Reality Bytes
by Thorntons
Summary: The boundaries between reality and fantasy are blurred...nothing is as it seems. Probably not a story for the purists.
1. Chapter 1

**Reality Bytes**

"Goddammit Jane! What have I told you about doing that. It's going to be all over the newspapers tomorrow. Bertram will go mad. Honestly when will you ever learn?" Lisbon looked to the heavens before strutting back to her office, her face flushed and angry.

She flopped down in her chair and grabbed the stress ball off the desk, squeezing it so hard that her knuckles went white. Narrowing her eyes at the sound of approaching footfall, she glared belligerently in the direction of the open door. At first a white handkerchief was flapped round the door to signify surrender, tentatively followed by Jane's head. He looked warily at the potential missile in Lisbon's hand, she didn't throw like a girl and her aim was notoriously good. Dropping a precautionary hand over the crown jewels, he cautiously slipped into her office, a nervous smile played on his lips.

"Honestly Lisbon, how was I supposed to know that the mayor's wife was sleeping with the groundskeeper? Although I must admit Mellors was looking decidedly pleased with himself." Jane vainly tried to talk his way out of trouble, but was met by a stony silence. "I was only joking about Lady C, and no one was more surprised than me when the mayor attacked Mellors."

"The frigging mayor's wife is called Constance. She naturally assumed you knew something from the way you spoke. It would never have entered her mind that someone would just randomly shoot from the hip, without regard for collateral damage - but there again she's never met you before." That stress ball was really earning its keep Jane mused, averting his eyes from Lisbon's contemptuous glower.

She shuddered at the recollection of the mayor beating seven bells out of the groundskeeper in front of the assembled press. There was no up side to this story. Lisbon's wrath knew no bounds "So now we've dragged the mayor's family through the gutter, besmirched the reputation of a fine man and his office, and yet we're still no closer to finding the murderer."

Resisting the temptation to say he'd never met an honest politician, seriously Lisbon really did look fit to explode, Jane hung his head and examined his feet sheepishly. Finally he raised his eyes slightly to observe the profile of the angry woman pumping the stress ball with all her might, getting redder and redder as she seemed to get caught in some involuntary repetitive cycle.

-ooo00ooo-

"Circuits are overloading again, switch to power saving mode." Fischer watched as Wylie tweaked some parameters, and they watched Lisbon visibly slow down until she sat back with a deep sigh against the back of her chair.

"Demand reducing, circuits normalising." Wylie looked from his screen to Lisbon, who was breathing more regularly now that she had reverted back to idle mode.

"Boss, she's in danger of burning out unless we reset that perception filter back to normal. She's picking up on everything." Fischer cast a worried look in Abbott's direction; there'd be hell to play for if they lost another droid. It was bad enough that the Kristina one seemed in a permanent state of standby, the communication interface had been mysteriously blocked.

Abbott tapped his lip as he considered the best option. "Just back it off 10%, the whole point of the exercise is to see how they cope under pressure. We need to see how far Jane can adapt to being challenged; this artificial neural network algorithm is getting a lot of attention from upstairs."

"Ok Boss. You heard that Wylie, adjust the threshold." Fischer turned back to her screen to observe the effects.

"Bullshit filter set to 90%." Wylie said with a grin. Abbott chuckled in the background as Fisher gave Wylie an icy stare. Did he have to make a joke out of everything?

-ooo00ooo-

Jane couldn't believe his luck; she seemed to be calming down of her own accord, without him even having to go through the usual routine. There was something strange about Lisbon at the moment that he couldn't put his finger on. Unaccountable mood shifts, signs of overheating, but there again she was in her forties now, perhaps... Whatever, all he knew was that he was walking on eggshells trying to predict her moods, on top of everything else.

He quickly sorted through the available data and computed the next logical step. "What if we could find the cause of death before the press get their teeth into this?"

"Uh?" Lisbon shook her head, as if re-engaging with the conversation.

"You know Lisbon, how about we do some real detecting - who knows it could be fun?" Jane chanced a cheesy grin, to test the waters. So far so good.

Lisbon blinked a few times before launching back into offensive mode. "Detecting!? That's what we're supposed to be doing, not going round acting like a wrecking ball."

Jane glanced into the bullpen to check for reinforcements. Ah good there was Cho. Jane narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Cho, and then almost as if bidden Cho rose from his chair and stiffly made his way towards Lisbon's office.

-ooo00ooo-

Fischer breathed in deeply. "How the hell does he do that? Manipulate the others at will."

Abbott sat up in his chair and glanced at the readouts. "Did you see that spike in Cho's neural waves coincides exactly with the one in Jane's. Any theories Wylie?"

Wylie shook his head, perplexed at the implications of what had occurred. "It can't happen in theory. It's as if he's tapped into Cho's program somehow, but I've no idea how he's done it."

"Any news on the Cho upgrade yet? That facial compound is way too inflexible, it's as if he's had Botox; the face doesn't move at all when he speaks." Fischer had put in the requisition weeks ago.

"We could try altering the gain on the expression loop to see if that helps." Wylie tweaked the adjustment towards its upper limit.

Abbott pulled a face as he observed Cho's face contort into a forced smile. "Ughh. Turn it down Wylie, that's just so wrong, it just looks like he's got gas."

-ooo00ooo-

"Ah Cho. What do we know about the victim then?" Jane looked at Cho curiously, what was with the weird grimace? Perhaps he was ailing.

Cho stood unblinking in the doorway, a study in impassivity. "Sofia Burnett. Twenty six years old, worked for the mayor's office for the last three years. Single, no dependants or relatives in the area." Cho recited the information robotically, in that monotone way that cops did when giving evidence. Neither deviating nor offering any insight beyond the question asked of them.

The body had been found in the margins of the lake beneath the willow tree, the victim's coat had caught on the roots of the overhanging tree leaving her eerily suspended in the water. Wide eyed and at first sight undamaged, she floated on her back in the water like Ophelia. As Jane had knelt down at the waterside, he saw no signs of a struggle on the lakeside, it was as if she had fallen from above somehow. If he wasn't mistaken there was a faint smell of pear drops. There were no telling marks on the corpse which was oddly serene, they would have to wait for the forensic report to find the exact cause of death.

"Have the tox results come back yet?" Lisbon started to run through the process of elimination with her usual efficiency.

"Nothing yet Boss, I'll get Van Pelt to chase it up." Cho turned abruptly and made a direct line to Van Pelt to transmit the message.

The gorgeous red head was perfectly formed, but her dead eyed expression gave her the appearance of an inaminate doll at times. Her glazed look of concentration as she pounded away at the keyboard belied the quickfire computations going on in the background.

On hearing the chair pulled out behind her she stopped and turned. Her lips curled into a smile when she saw Rigsby taking off his jacket. Her smile was reciprocated with a sideward look at Cho, to see if he had noticed anything.

"Hi Grace." Rigsby said with a smile.

"Hi you." One eyebrow of her doll like face quirked suggestively.

Cho sent out a timely grunt to remind them he was present; that reminded him he had cheese again for lunch.

Van Pelt put her work face back on and read the report that had just come in. "That's interesting the victim was about 6 weeks pregnant according to the ME."

"Bingo!" The team looked over to Jane, who was back on his sofa. An ear splitting grin manifested his glee as his prepared to present the reveal. "It's obvious."

"Just spit it out Jane." Cho jerked his head to where a small figure was making her way over to the bullpen.

Impervious to the belligerent look on Lisbon's face, Jane continued with his game. "It's all in the report. The final clue was the faint hint of pear drops."

Lisbon rubbed her temples irritably, feeling the onset of another headache, then she suddenly perked up as she pieced the evidence together. "Ketones."

"Oh you always have to spoil it Lisbon." Jane's face fell in disappointment, damn Lisbon was unusually perceptive today. "She may have been suffering from gestational diabetes. Sometimes the deficit of food caused by excessive morning sickness causes the body to convert its own muscle for fuel thereby forming ketones. The ME estimated the time of death at 1.30, so she was meeting someone around lunchtime and probably missed another meal. That combined with her already low blood sugars would lead to drowsiness and confusion. She had no hope of escaping when she fell in the lake - it was all an unfortunate accident. Although I hazard a guess she was supposed to be meeting the father, who stood her up, so in some ways he was to blame."

Cho glanced up from the medical records and gave a quick nod to indicate Jane was right about the diabetes.

"Grace do we have the last number she dialled? That will tell us who the father is." Jane tapped the number into his phone, but after a short delay it went to answer phone. He tried again a few minutes later, and noticed the mayor, who was just about to leave, glance down at his phone without answering. Another grin crossed Jane's face, he pointed at the mayor. "Lisbon, now this is getting very interesting." Honest politician be damned! Jane pressed redial and the mayor's phone went off again, this time he answered.

"Hello..."

Jane sped over to the mayor followed by Lisbon in close pursuit, she was dreading what that damn fool consultant going to do next. The mayor just glowered at them, still smarting at the incident with the press.

"We've found out who killed your assistant. It was you." Jane winced at the sharp dig in the ribs from Lisbon.

The mayor just glared at Lisbon. "That's it, I've had enough. You'll all be looking for new jobs by the end of the day."

Lisbon bristled angrily at the attempted intimidation."I think what Jane is trying to say is that you inadvertently caused Sofia's death by not turning up for your appointment. Did you know she was carrying your child?"

Jane grinned, way to go Lisbon. Annoyingly Jane pressed redial again to push the point home. "The last number she dialled was yours, in fact she had dialled it several times in the last hour. If you hadn't have stood her up, in all likelihood she would still be alive today. Ergo you killed her."

Lisbon just rolled her eyes, honestly there was no controlling him.

-ooo00ooo-

"Mmm Didn't take him long to reason that one out, we'll have to make the next one more challenging? You doing the re-sequencing tonight Fischer?" Abbott read down the software updates they were due to upload.

"Yes we've got the personality upgrade for Rigsby, see if that makes any difference and we've got a whole new load of memories for Jane. Seems a bit extreme what they're planning – are they trying to push him over the edge?" Fischer frowned, it was undeniable she had a soft spot for Jane.

"Fischer, you seem to be forgetting he's not real. This is groundbreaking work the boundaries need to be pushed from time to time." Abbott reminded her.

"Just sayin..No worries boss I'll make sure it's all done by morning." Fischer put her head down and started to read through the list again.

Fischer had waited until they were all in standby mode before setting the uploads going. Making sure no-one was around, she swiped her access card and let herself in to the controlled area, making a beeline for Jane's resting place. The flickering light at the socket indicated the wireless upload was underway. It wasn't the first nocturnal visit Fischer had made to Jane; she was fascinated by him for some reason. The soft curls and lightly etched lines on the face all added to the allure, unable to resist she reached out and stroked the cheek of the sleeping face trailing her fingers over his lower lip. He was so real but so unattainable, she felt her pulse quickening as she imagined what it would be like to be with him in the real world. She lowered her head and placed the lightest of kisses on his cheek only to jump back with a start when his eyes suddenly opened. Crap! That shouldn't have happened. The blue green eyes just stared ahead unfocussed. Trying to keep out of the direct line of sight Fischer noticed a slight quirk of a smile on the lips before the eyes closed and Jane returned to standby.

Quickly making her escape, Fischer checked the other uploads were in progress before letting herself out of the compound. She was haunted by that look, and although she knew she was breaking all the rules, she decided to chance another visit on her next night shift.

The next time Fischer visited Jane woke again, he was seemingly more cognisant of her presence, his eyes focussed on her and his hand reached out to touch her. Fischer felt a real connection between them that she couldn't explain, it was as if he were looking into her soul.

As the days went on Fischer developed an irrational jealousy of Lisbon, and was more than happy when the next stage of the program was implemented.

-ooo00ooo-

Another day, another homicide. It hadn't taken Jane that long to identify the killer, who had taken an innocent bystander hostage in an attempt to avoid arrest.

It wasn't really Jane's fault, he'd sensed something was wrong the minute they had walked in, but the suspect was unpredictable and none of the usual talking down techniques seemed to be working. Sensing they were getting nowhere, Lisbon ignored Jane's warnings and approached the suspect, talking very slowly just trying to calm her down, and the next minute Lisbon was lying in a pool of blood on the floor bleeding out.

Distraught, Jane held her hand and kept talking to her, all the while pressing down on the wounds in a vain attempt to stem the flow of blood until help arrived.

-ooo00ooo-

"So which scenario have they chosen. Live or die?" Wylie wasn't quite as dispassionate about the outcome as his professionalism required, he was rather fond of Lisbon.

"Die." Fischer muttered under her breath, causing Abbott to turn his head sharply.

"Perhaps, but not yet. The experiment must run its course." Abbott frowned at Fischer's emotional involvement. Security had alerted him of Fischer's contact with Jane and it was highly irregular. Wylie was currently investigating how Jane had overridden the standby setting. Rather than sanction Fischer, it had been decided to let the situation run its course and see what transpired.

-ooo00ooo-

Jane held a silent vigil at Lisbon's bedside; the culprit had been apprehended so there was no need for him to be back at the office. Left alone with his thoughts, he replayed events in his head. It all seemed unreal to him, he kept glancing up at the blinking light in the corner of the room. He had noticed that whenever he went to do anything, it seemed to precipitate the onset of some new activity. His whole reality seemed skewed at the moment, the nocturnal memories had seemed very real to him, but how could they be? They were like a siren call into another world; next time he would force himself to wake up.

Returning his thoughts to Lisbon who lay pale and unconscious before him, he really couldn't bear to lose her. He ran his fingers over her face tracing out her eyes and lips moving his hand down to her wrist until he felt a connection. With his head bowed low he contemplated Lisbon's deepest thoughts.

-ooo00ooo-

"Abbott, Fischer look at this – he's reading her." Wylie saw the synchronised brain patterns.

Abbott peered closely at the screen, shaking his head in amazement. " He's overcome the communication protocol and tapped into her network somehow."

"Do you think he knows what he is doing, or does he think this some psychic vibe he's tapped into?" Fischer wondered how deep he had probed into Lisbon's psyche, and whether he would discover her destiny.

-ooo00ooo-

Jane lifted his head sadly, knowing his presence at Lisbon's bedside now served no purpose. His mind was in turmoil as he struggled to get his head around what was going on, of course there was no such thing as psychics, but his premonition felt very real. He gripped Lisbon's hand hard, trying to send her a message, never wanting to let her go. It was all to no avail, her breathing become shallower and shallower until eventually she flat lined. He'd never had the chance to tell her how much she meant to him, how much she could have meant to him.

Secretive at the best of times, Jane spiralled into a pit of despondency, only communicating when absolutely essential. In truth, he was playing over events in his mind and nothing seemed real, it was as if Lisbon's fate had been pre-ordained, it went beyond all logic. These thoughts bordered on the last refuge of a madman, seeking refuge in some far flung theory. Somehow he knew those nocturnal visits were the key to things.

-ooo00ooo-

Glad as she was to see Lisbon out of the way, it still tugged at her heart strings seeing Jane descend into this sea of despair – who knew their grief could ever be so real? The nocturnal visits increased in frequency, and her fingers would linger over the stubble on the gaunt face. Each time she felt a deeper connection between them, sometimes he would wake up and stare deep into her eyes, and her heart would flutter as she stood transfixed by his attention. Of late he had started reaching out to her, holding her hand to deepen the connection and running his hand down her side. No words were ever spoken.

When Fischer was sure he was back in standby mode, she went to swipe her card to access the concealed entrance, only to find it was missing. She retraced her footsteps to Jane's resting place, dropping on her hands and knees to see if it had fallen on the floor, then searching the bed , but it was nowhere to be seen. Quickly punching in the override code Fischer let herself out, a sense of panic overwhelmed her; she didn't want that falling into the wrong hands.

-ooo00ooo-

Jane peered through half closed eyelids watching Fischer's every movement, he fingered the card tucked up his sleeve, guessing this held the answer to his problem.

Fearful that the card would be cancelled, Jane decided to act quickly. He guessed his visitor Kim, who he had managed to get a good read on, would not want to admit her loss straight away in case her card turned up, so he reckoned he had a few hours to play with. It was probably better to wait until daylight, when his absence could be explained by him going off on one of his jaunts. Jane tentatively placed the card against the reader disguised as a light switch and watched the bookcase move aside.

Feeling conspicuous in his waistcoat and shirt sleeves, he noticed everyone was wearing white coats and dipped into the first open room to grab a white coat, It was a bit big but better than nothing. He surveyed the room inquisitively, it seemed like a workshop but not one he could get his head around. Approaching the slab in the middle of the room it crossed his mind that this resembled an operating room rather than a conventional workshop. The metal doors that led to the room beyond were sealed but not locked, the gentle hum of a refrigeration unit caught his ear and he approached with caution.

He wasn't expecting what he found behind the doors, individual pods held bodies in suspended animation. As he traversed the line of pods he recognised some of the bodies as being people from his cases. His heart lurched when he came across one he knew so well, it was Lisbon. Examining the controls on the pod he flicked the switch from de-activate to activate and his heart raced when he saw some colour return to Lisbon's face replacing the ghastly pallor of her inanimate state of a few minutes ago. A furrow appeared between her eyebrows as she started to return to consciousness. Her eyes shot open then squinted as they accommodated the light and slowly her green eyes started to focus. A flicker of recognition turned to blind panic as she realised that she was trapped. A surge of hope welled through Jane, and he desperately tried to open the pod, but as soon as the alarm sounded he knew he would have to abort that idea for now. Realising that it would be torture to leave her activated while still trapped, he mouthed "I'll be back", pressed deactivate and watched as she slowly reverted to dormancy, before making his escape.

Jane now realised his dreams were not the ravings of a lunatic, he had stumbled on something deeply disturbing. Getting as far away from the scene as he could, he dipped into an empty office on hearing the sound of approaching footfall. Jane waited until the coast was clear before slowly making his way to what looked like a control centre.

Fischer was watching an array of screens which contained images of the bull pen and various familiar locations. She was talking animatedly to Abbott, Jane guessed she was coming clean about her card. The recording of her in Jane's room was replayed back to her. Jane smiled slightly at that point, he knew something that she didn't know, but he needed to get to the next level to find out the truth.

-ooo00ooo-

Dr Joe watched proceedings with some annoyance, things certainly hadn't gone to plan. A rogue specimen was now on the loose, and they seemed to have no idea what he was going to do next. Still he couldn't go far and they could always activate the tracker system. Although it wasn't planned, Dr Joe took a perverse pleasure in seeing how far the adaptive controls would work.

Abbott was a disappointment to him, he really hadn't got control of the situation and he'd gotten far too close to his staff. Perhaps it was time for a reboot, Rigsby and Van Pelt were getting boring, maybe it was time for the control room staff to spend some time in the field.

First things first they had to find Jane, a rogue droid was always an unknown quantity.

Erica came up behind him and rubbed his neck lightly, "problems?"

Dr Joe leant back into her touch "Umm nothing that can't be put right." He watched appreciatively as she walked around the room, it was like Jell-O on springs.

"Anything I can do for you?" Erica's formfitting dress accentuated her every curve, his eyes raked over her.

Dr Joe smirked and looked south, he'd personally programmed Erica and she knew exactly what he liked... his knuckles went white as he gripped the arms of the chair in response to her ministrations.

-ooo00ooo-

Fischer had never seen Abbott so angry, a security breach like this was unheard of. Unlike Fischer he hadn't shirked his duties, he'd phoned Erica straight away to alert HQ of the problem. The GPS had picked up Jane making his way to command HQ, and without further delay Abbott organised a team to collect Jane. All attempts to remotely deactivate him had failed, the trusted communication protocols had been breached, and the signals were not being processed.

They had watched the footage of Jane's escape and his attempts to wake Lisbon. Guessing this might be his weakness, Abbott ordered that Lisbon be reactivated and brought back into service.

The plush carpets underfoot alerted Jane that this section belonged to the hierarchy, he would find out what was going on once and for all. As he entered the atrium an exotic beauty with a pixie haircut confidently made her way over to him. "Mr Jane we've been expecting you, do take a seat."

Refusing to co-operate, Jane perused the room picking up on the general layout, and seeing the door beyond he immediately made his way over to it. The sound of Erica's voice filtered through. "Mr Jane please wait a minute, Dr Joe is busy." When her pleas went unheeded he heard the sound of the intercom."Sorry Sir, he's coming through I couldn't stop him." Erica tried to make it to the door ahead of Jane, but there was no stopping him. Jane quickly read the nameplate Dr Joe NH before marching in.

Abbott and his team arrived and ran straight into the room before Jane could do anything. Lisbon and Fischer soon followed. Dr Joe picked up a control and flicked a switch, they all stopped dead in their tracks apart from Jane, who walked around the frozen figures examining them carefully slowly taking everything in – finally realising they were all just figments of their creator's grand plan.

After a brief standoff that established Dr Joe's supremacy, the switch was flicked back and with a faint blip they all continued as before, none of them aware of the pause.

Jane watched as Abbott and Fischer crossed the room "It's not real, none of you are real." His cries were in vain as they regarded him pityingly. It was a shame when a droid went off the rails, but they could fix it. One glance at Lisbon told him that she was confused and disorientated, she hadn't got a clue what was going on.

Grabbing Lisbon's hand, he made a dash into the bowels of the building until they finally found an exit door on the far side. Triumphantly he pushed the door open ready to make a bid for freedom, only to have his hopes dashed when he was confronted by a blank canvas of infinite emptiness, devoid of any sign of life or light. There were no stars in the sky just complete and utter darkness. They looked back to see the Doctor standing in the doorway.

"Come on back Mr Jane – there's nothing there for you." The tone was hypnotically commanding.

Jane scanned the horizon helplessly, there were no distinguishing features, no light pollution from some distant settlement. Just a big fat zero, zilch, nada - hell he couldn't even see the faintest curvature on the horizon. There was no breeze to hint at being outside, to give hope of some sign of life. It was just sterile and dark, there was no escape. Lisbon would soon tire if they tried to walk; the only certainty was death, or more likely endless purgatory. He looked at Lisbon's worried face and knew he couldn't put her through that.

He pushed her back gently towards the door – "Go on Teresa it will be alright, it's just a bad dream, it will all be over soon." After seeing her welcomed back into the fold, he turned his back defiantly, if they wanted him they could come and fetch him. A firm hand on his shoulder announced Abbott's arrival. "Come on Jane, it's time to go."

"You know that you're no better than the rest of us, you're just another cog in the machine. How do you know that Dr Joe is real and not just part of the plan?" Jane started when he saw a brief smile flicker on Abbott's face.

"Well of course that's entirely possibly, but don't tell him, he still thinks he is in control." Abbott's phlegmatic manner was curiously calming. "Relax, it's like the Hotel California, we are programmed to receive, you can check out any time you want but you can never leave."

"You know?" Jane stared deep into his eyes, this time the connection worked both ways. Abbott saw him as clearly as Jane saw Abbott.

"Look it may not be life as we imagine it, but it's the only existence on offer, and few know any different so why spoil it for them? There's an art to going with the flow and making the most of it, besides when did we ever control our own destiny? Anyhow from what I hear your next gig sounds like a good one, so enjoy it."

"But what about Teresa?" Jane looked anxiously towards the door.

"Hush don't worry, you'll see her again sometime. It will all work out fine." Abbott patted Jane comfortingly on the back as he led him back inside.

-ooo00ooo-

Charlotte pulled away from his hand without warning, and ran off in the direction of the little terrier that was running loose, followed by their owner in fast pursuit. "Cagney come back here this moment." Cagney just put her ears back and raced towards the blonde haired toddler. They collided and Charlotte plopped down on the floor laughing, putting her arms around Cagney, who licked her face all over.

"Cagney, you bad girl. Are you alright sweetheart?" The dark hair woman looked concerned.

Charlotte just chortled. "I like dogs. I'm Charlotte."

" I'm Teresa, and I like dogs too honey, but Cagney's a bad girl." She looked apprehensively in the direction of Charlotte's father who was making his way over, he didn't look too angry, so she relaxed a bit.

"This is Teresa and this is Cagney." Charlotte beamed as she introduced her new found friends.

"I'm so sorry, my little boy let Cagney off the lead..." Teresa began to apologise.

"Meh, children and dogs, who'd have them?" His breathing hitched and was a little laboured, Teresa assumed he was a little out of condition. The eyes crinkled as he smiled, it was quite disconcerting the way he looked at her.

"Look I'd better be going. Bye Charlotte, see you around." Teresa lead Cagney away, with a fleeting look over her shoulder. Charlotte's father seemed oddly familiar.

Patrick ruffled Charlotte's hair as he watched Teresa walk away, he composed himself knowing Angela was following up behind, and put his game face on in time to greet her.

"What happened are you alright?" Angela gathered Charlotte up in her arms, following Patrick's eyes in the direction of the dark haired woman now reunited with her family.

"Nice dog." Patrick turned and pressed a light kiss on Angela's cheek.

Abbott was right, just make the most of things. Patrick was happy and he wouldn't swap his family for anything, even if his happiness was only fleeting. Anyhow what could possibly go wrong...


	2. Chapter 2 : Doors of Perception

**Chapter 2 : The Doors of Perception**

'Crap, that's the last time I do a line." Jane muttered as his world span out of control. Angela would go ballistic, she had been nagging him to stop hanging out with the TV crew fearing he would be dragged into their ways. It wasn't the first time he had experimented with expanding his horizons, after all if it was good enough for Sherlock Holmes it was worth a try. Artistic types claimed it freed their minds from the shackles of convention, enabling their creative juices to flow. Normally Jane preferred to preserve his mental faculties in tip top condition unsullied by chemical interference. Hell, he didn't even drink to excess, but everyone had been doing it, so he reasoned one line wouldn't do any lasting harm.

Blinking his eyes as the bright lights seemed to burn into him, he tried to take in his surroundings. Everywhere was white, the walls looked padded, he tried to reach out and touch them, but he couldn't move his arms. Man this was one crazy trip. Jane tried to put his mind into a trance to try and return back to reality, slow down Paddy boy, control your breathing, now slow your heart down, keep counting until you fall asleep 1,2,3...148,149.

This wasn't working, something was wrong. He blinked a tentative eye open and realised he was still in the white room, and he became aware of muttered voices and barely distinguishable figures dressed in white. A quick visit to his memory palace to see if he could fall back on previous experience was to no avail. This was unlike anything he had experienced before, attempts to restore normality as he knew it were fruitless, as the new normal prevailed. One of the hazy figures advanced and Jane sniggered slightly. OK this was going to be one crazy trip with the frauds in white coats, what the hell, bring it on.

A soft voice was calling his name. "Patrick, it's Dr Miller here. Come back to us, you've been away a long time now." Trying to focus his eyes anew, Jane made out the form of a woman with light brown hair who reminded him vaguely of Angela. Why did he keep on coming back to Angela? Had they had another fight? Jane rationalised he was just on some psychedelic trip, and somewhere in the library in his memory palace he pulled out the Doors of Perception book and flicked through the pages recalling that when Aldous Huxley was experimenting with mescaline, he observed that every day things ceased to exist, space and dimension become irrelevant, while perceptions became increasingly heightened. Satisfied he was just on a bad trip, Jane carried on reading until he got to the section on the mind at large.

 _'Each person is at each moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function of the brain and nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of largely useless and irrelevant knowledge, by shutting out most of what we should otherwise perceive or remember at any moment, and leaving only that very small and special selection which is likely to be practically useful. According to such a theory, each one of us is potentially Mind at Large.'_

Suddenly Jane started to get unsettled, what was his central nervous system filtering out? What would happen if he regained his perception of other worlds and allowed himself to remember? Maybe this drug induced haze would help him get back to reality. He opened his eyes again, but the room was still white and the woman in the white coat was still there. "Hello again Patrick." The voice seemed distant, a gentle shake of his shoulder was accompanied by a more insistent voice "Patrick it's time to wake up now."

Jane closed his eyes again, preferring to float in the aether a while longer, the buoyancy of ignorant bliss lifting him to higher planes. Random thoughts and images came and went, it was a blissful state. First a dark haired woman packing heat appeared, only to be replaced by a more feminine dark blonde woman playing Bach on the piano. This was one weird trip, they couldn't be more different, but Jane felt a strange affinity to both. A high key image of a blond haired girl frolicking in the sun was projected into his memory; he smiled benignly feeling a rush of love and he reached out to touch her, but she suddenly recoiled and started to scream as her image was crazed with red lines. She held her hand out to him, her eyes imploring him to save her from being engulfed, but she was dragged back into the void, sucked under by some hidden force, while he watched on helplessly. His fleeting happiness was washed away as ice ran through his veins, and the cold gripped at his heart threatening to squeeze the very life out of him. Overcome by an overwhelming sense of loneliness and shame, he really didn't care one way or another whether he lived or died.

Was he really alive or just some discarded fragment of someone's sick imagination? As he stared into the void, he realised that he hadn't died, but was suspended in a state of limbo. A tiny point of light seemed to be floating toward him, offering him hope of escape from this purgatory. But first he was going to have to acknowledge his sins, and face up to his temporal punishment by answering the call of the voices calling him back to reality. He floated back down to re-inhabit his corporeal body, reluctantly accepting the need to be reborn.

Much as he wanted to pinch himself to see if he was back in the real world, the restraints on his arms stopped him moving. Jane became increasingly frantic, as his rebirth brought back the full horror of the reality he had been trying to escape. Involuntary sobs escaped him as he struggled for breath, a soothing hand rubbed his back. "Just let it out Patrick, it's good to grieve, just let it out."

Slowly Jane raised his head, his red rimmed eyes stared wildly around the room as he took in the new reality. Reality sucked.

The weeks that followed were painful as Dr Miller slowly brought Jane back to a state of equilibrium. It was the best that could be achieved, if he could reach a point where he could find something in his life to counterbalance his grief, at least it would give him something to hold onto in the dark days ahead. Initially Jane had been guided by Dr Miller trusting her implicitly, but then a sense of unease returned as Jane began to feel more like a scientific subject than a patient. Miller's obsessive record keeping, speaking into her Dictaphone whenever she thought Jane wasn't compos mentis, left him with an uneasy feeling that he was part of some study and his well being was secondary to the experiment.

Jane started to be more guarded around Miller, moreover she seemed to be developing some feelings towards him, which were definitely not reciprocated. Jane was quite happy juggling his two persona, the one he trotted out for the good doctor, and the one that was going to be his salvation, by finding out who had cruelly murdered Angela and Charlotte. Jane had found the perfect antidote to his grief, it was cold, unremitting hate.

As time progressed Dr Miller introduced him to some of the other patients in the dayroom as part of his rehabilitation. Jane put on an act of shy reticence as he endured the enforced socialising. A woman with sandy tumbling curls caught his attention, she stirred briefly on his arrival and looked vacantly in his direction, her face seemed vaguely familiar. The woman next to him squeezed his hand lightly "Oh don't you mind Kristina dear, she never says a word, just sits and stares."

Each time Jane was taken to the common room, he became increasingly aware of Kristina who seemed to be showing a flicker of interest in life after all. She had taken to mumbling incoherently, the doctors were amazed as she hadn't spoken for months now, the only thing that had excited her interest was a flickering light up to now. Jane always made a point of sitting directly opposite her, allowing each of them an unobstructed view. Without warning one day, Kristina slowly raised her head and started proclaiming in a clear voice. "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying."

Her eyes met Jane's across the room. "That question you want to ask, the answer is no she never woke, she didn't know a thing." Kristina's eyes flickered back into her head before she slumped forward. Without any warning the nurses rushed in and whisked her away. It confirmed Jane's suspicions that they were under constant surveillance. Jane never saw her again at the facility, apparently she had been moved to some new establishment more suited to her condition.

Kristina's words started to play on his mind when combined with other memories that were starting to come back to him, it was a puzzle even for his mighty fortress of a brain. It seemed to him that he was trying to solve a giant jigsaw but it was as if two puzzles had been mixed together, and he didn't know which pieces belonged to which puzzle.

Jane was particularly disturbed by the recurrent image of the dark haired woman. Who was she? Had he been unfaithful to Angela or did she belong to a different puzzle? For all his differences with Angela, he was still a one woman man and he would never stray.

The strain of maintaining their high flying lifestyle had led Jane's agent to chase higher profile work. Jane had been mixing with people Angela didn't approve of, and she had implored him to stop. "I don't need all this." She looked round her Malibu home disdainfully, it meant little to her it was just a front."We can sell up and move on, we don't have to live like this."

But fame and success were addictive, and Jane was a junkie by now, always available to give an opinion on anything. He was flying too close to the sun, and it was inevitable he would get burned at some stage.

Jane's head fell to his hands. Why wasn't it him that had gotten burned? God knew he deserved it. Why did it have to be Angela and Charlie? He was not a religious man, far from it, but Kristina's words about resurrection haunted him. He knew that spiritual people believed earth was just one plane of existence and death wasn't the end, in fact some branches of religion went so far as to assert there would be a bodily resurrection of the dead in a physical not merely spiritual existence _'And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God._ '

If only he could believe, and have some strand of hope to cling on to. But there was a nagging suspicion that Kristina's words were not meant to be taken at face value, they were not the ranting of a lunatic. She had known exactly what she was saying, more to the point how did she know what was preying on his mind? It was as if there had been some psychic connection between them.

As time progressed the FBI approached Dr Miller about questioning him, by now he was able to discuss things rationally, his grief offset by his closely guarded quest for revenge. Of course Dr Miller chose to hang some label on it all, explaining his progression through the grieving process by some text book analysis of the stages of recovery.

Still she was reluctant to let Jane be interviewed, and they had a heated argument about it. Her proprietorial feelings and increasingly tactile responses, were in danger of going beyond normal pastoral care. The time had come to move on, he needed to cut the umbilical cord with Sophie Miller for both their sakes. Jane would always be grateful for what she had done in giving birth to this new existence. This was in danger of turning into an unhealthy relationship; surely she of all people should know that he wasn't looking for an Angela look alike to fill the void. Jane had noted the lighter roots of her hair, and in his more sceptical moments wondered if she had deliberately tried to emulate Angela, in order to establish a connection with him. Their similarity of build and colouring was striking, but where Angela was warm and generous, there was a hard edge to Sophie Miller. He had the impression that when things went her against her she could be swift and ruthless in taking her revenge. He smiled sardonically, after all who was he to criticise anyone who took revenge? Revenge was keeping him going and the only thing that made life worth living was the thought that one day he would avenge his family's death.

Miller was talking animatedly to the two agents outside the consulting room, the smart female agent had met her match with Miller. They had clearly got off on the wrong foot, with the female agent trying to assert her authority over Miller. Jane smiled, Sophie would stand her ground against anyone, it was what made her such a good therapist; she wouldn't back down whatever was thrown at her, she just kept going. The senior agent was trying to appease both women, his hands were making calming moves with his palms facing down as if trying to fan down the heat of their ire.

It was unsettling that they both seemed so familiar to Jane. Flashbacks of the woman coming to visit him at night disturbed him, that particular piece of the jigsaw just didn't fit this puzzle, he wasn't remotely attracted to her.

A tap on the door saw Dennis Abbott make his way in, leaving the two women outside. He looked seriously at Jane from behind his glasses quickly appraising the situation, before moving forward and grasping Jane's hand between his own hands in a slow deliberate handshake in the guise of a greeting. A jolt of anticipation ran through Jane, he immediately knew that he had met this man before. For as long as the contact remained, Jane felt an influx of knowledge course through his veins. Abbott smiled enigmatically, just blinking his eyelids at Jane to acknowledge the silent communication. At the sound of the women approaching Abbott broke contact. "Have faith Patrick, we cannot change reality, but we can change our perceptions of reality. Just open the doors to your mind and you will learn to piece together the facts buried in your deepest recesses, and all will become clear again."

Jane knew there had been more communication between him and Abbott, beyond the few audible words. He scanned his memory for fresh memories, but he couldn't decode this new information straight away, although he didn't understand it fully he knew that Abbott had sent him a message of hope. Yet how could there be hope in this situation, there was nothing positive to be taken out it? He ran his mind back over the interview; it added no new insights, they had just been treading over old ground. Interestingly while Jane was sure he had met Fischer before, there wasn't the faintest flicker of recognition on her part.

Still unable to piece the jigsaw together into a coherent picture, or even able to separate the puzzles into two piles, Jane at least started to put names to some of the recurrent faces that haunted him. The dark haired woman Teresa Lisbon was some sort of colleague and the enigmatic Asian man he had identified as Kimball Cho, for some reason these seemed to be the main influences on him. Bit part characters like Van Pelt and Rigsby hung around the periphery of his psyche but who were they all and where did they belong?

Finally discharged after being deemed fit for independent living, Jane took up residence in a long stay motel. He was obsessed with solving this puzzle, somehow he needed to open his mind to allow his synapses to make the connections. He had read that belladonna infusions could cause hallucinations, if he could just get the dose right maybe he would make a breakthrough. Not wanting to overdose and end back under Dr Miller's care, it took several attempts of slowly increasing the dosage until he worked his way up to a state where he would have mild hallucinogenic experiences talking to Angela, Charlotte and more latterly Teresa. How had she worked her way into his psyche so deeply that she came to him in dreamland? It was most disconcerting.

Having established the safe dosage, Jane decided he really needed to push the issue and imbibed the brew with some trepidation before laying back on his bed to wait for the drug to take effect.

Terror engulfed Jane as he saw a man enter his house and hover above Charlotte before making his way to Angela, mercifully he was spared the gruesome detail but knowing was bad enough. Jane knew the man was someone he had met before, and was somehow connected with Abbott.

Next he saw the same man sitting in an office, he was clearly the puppet master pulling everyone's strings. Jane focussed on the name on the door Dr Joe NH, he knew he had seen that door before but where? The next minute he was standing in the void in absolute darkness Teresa by his side, contemplating oblivion before being beckoned back in. The storage facility with the body pods was the next memory to be retrieved, and this time he saw Charlotte and Angela in suspended animation. His heart started to race with hope, they were still alive albeit dormant, but he still couldn't fit all the pieces of the puzzle in place.

He was slowly retrieving the memories that Abbott had implanted in him, and remembering Abbott's words he started to challenge his perceptions of reality. Maybe he needed to take a leap of faith to embrace a new reality, where things could be changed and nothing was permanent, where everything was by design and there was no religion or spirituality, just a master plan being ruthlessly implemented by Dr Joe.

The fog started to lift and he could distinguish between the two different sets of puzzles, and his mind ordered them into two parallel existences, a Schrödinger's cat of reality both simultaneously real and unreal. He took heart from the fact that he now knew that Angela and Charlotte were not gone forever, and they would indeed be resurrected in one form or another. At this stage it didn't matter that he may not be part of their lives, so long as he knew that there was some hope for them.

Jane knew one thing though, Dr Joe had to be stopped. Jane's pain had been very real these last few months, so he knew that everything Charlotte and Angela had experienced would have been very real and terrifying to them at the time. His knuckles whitened as he clenched his fist imagining Dr Joe's detachment as he conducted his sick experiment with Jane's family - it was just an experiment to him, but droids or not, they were developing into sentient beings with very real feelings and emotions, and should not be the playthings of some egotistical puppet master.

Somehow Jane had to stop him, and in order to do that Jane first had to work out how to protect these memories before he was changed into his next iteration. Somewhere in that memory palace he needed to find a secret place, where only he could access those memories, and to find a means of associating everyday occurrences with key memories to allow him to unlock the doors of perception without having to go through all this again. Next time he would be ready for Dr Joe, it was time to fight back.


	3. Chapter 3 : The Pale Horse

**Chapter 3 - The Pale Horse**

***Please be forewarned that this chapter contains strong language and tackles adult themes and death, which some may find disturbing.***

* * *

Somewhere in the deepest recesses of his memory there had to be an explanation for this, but as the police dragged him away all comprehension of what had gone before evaded Jane.

Naturally he'd been swabbed for gunshot residue, but whatever the result it was a slam dunk being found gun in hand, standing over the body of Osvaldo Ardilles. While viewing the scene with a curious detachment, Jane dispassionately concluded the victim was a lawyer, although the slick suit and neatly coiffed hair were at odds with the tacky footwear. The question bugging him, was what was a lawyer doing in his house in the first place?

The police confirmed the victim was District Attorney Osvaldo Ardilles, one of their own and it was apparent from the start that someone was going to pay for this. None too gentle in their handling, they caused Jane to wince as they pushed him into the car. Angela hadn't said a word in his defence, and as the car pulled away there was guilt written all over her face -she couldn't look him in the eyes.

Jane knew in that moment that he hadn't fired the gun, it was Angela. However hard he tried to deny it, eventually he had to face the unpalatable truth, Ardilles was Angela's lover.

So now that there was a motive; he revisited his fuzzy memory, perhaps he'd shot the gun after all? But recalling that look on Angela's face dispelled any illusions, she wasn't guilty about the affair, she was guilty about what was about to happen.

Maybe it was bad karma seeping through, that enabled Angela to see her husband arrested for a crime she'd committed. What could possibly have happened in the past to make her feel this way?

The grim reality hit home, in the absence of mitigating circumstances either he or Angela would be facing a murder rap. Killing a DA was a capital offence, but if he contested the charge that would leave Angela liable to prosecution and where would that leave Charlotte?

Who could she cope best without, her ever present mother or her part time father? Trapped between bitterness at Angela's betrayal and a desire to protect his daughter, Jane realised he had no choice. His daughter needed her mother more than she needed him, so he couldn't point the finger of suspicion at his wife. If there was any other way of getting off the charge he would fight it, but not at Angela's expense. For some reason he knew he owed her that much.

Decision taken, he ruefully mulled over the bones of their marriage. Angela had changed towards him of late, but it had never crossed his mind that she'd taken a lover. Assuming it was just a phase, and her ardour had simply cooled with familiarity, Jane didn't read anything more into it. In retrospect it was obvious that there had been more than a frisson of resentment, the little things that used to amuse her, just irritated her of late. More latterly the mood had been one of cool indifference, as if she didn't seem to care what he did. It rankled that he couldn't decide whether this was an act of self preservation, or did she really care so little for him?

* * *

The interest in the new boy was apparent, the leers and taunts were kept to a minimum while the guards were in earshot, but the sharks were circling and they were positioning themselves for the kill. Painfully aware of his predicament, Jane latched onto a relatively innocuous group seeking safety in numbers. Too soon to make much headway with a charm offensive, Jane contented himself with identifying marks who could be exploited at a later date.

Conscious of the dangers of being alone Jane didn't stray far, but quick as a flash someone brushed by and detached him from the safety of the herd, leaving him stranded with a predatory bunch led by a pock marked letch called Raul. Outnumbered and with nowhere to go, Jane's silver tongue counted for nothing, neither logic nor flattery held sway in the face of such predatory intent.

Never the bravest of men Jane floundered helplessly. "Help! Dude in distress." His prayers seemed to be answered when a voice boomed out. "Hey Raul, he's taken. If he's anyone's bitch he's mine."

"Join the queue Dennis. This is fresh meat there'll be more than enough to go round." Raul snarled, never taking his eyes off the goods.

Jane watched with some trepidation as a mean looking son of a bitch roughly pushed Raul out of the way, and eyed Jane up critically "Um not bad." Dennis Abbott conceded, he motioned for Jane to follow him. "Sorry Raul this one's not for sharing, this punk's all mine."

Although his protector seemed reassuringly familiar, the taunts of the other cons suggested trouble ahead."Looks like Dennis has found a new girlfriend." One of them said almost pityingly. The guards had taken a perverse pleasure in rooming the new inmate with the resident Booty Bandit – there was no denying law enforcement closed ranks when one of their own was murdered.

Finally the door closed on the cell, and the prison guards made some final cryptic comments before leaving. The cellmates hadn't exchanged more than a few words since Jane had been claimed. Jane delved into his memory to recall how he knew Abbott, but only the vaguest of memories survived. A futile attempt at a charm offensive was to no avail, and Jane was left stunned when without warning Abbott lashed out at him, sending him hurtling down to the ground.

Gingerly feeling his split lip, confusion reigned. "For fucks sake, what's that for?"

After a surreptitious glance toward the corner, Abbott yanked Jane up and smashed him against the opposite wall, bringing his forehead down to rest on Jane's in a Neanderthal fashion that would have intimidated the bravest of men. "Disappointing, I'd have thought you would have remembered more this time."

The memories started to awaken albeit slowly, as Abbott kept his head in a vice like grip before lunging in to claim his prize. Jane vainly tried to fight him off. Abbott muttered a quick sorry before the next blow landed, and Jane yelped in pain. All the while Abbott was aware of the spy cam, and knew this had to be authentic. Jane wasn't going to like what came next one bit, though admittedly for Abbott it was a perk of the job. Confused and a little bit frightened by events Jane heard Abbott whispering into his ear, "Sorry got to keep up appearances, relax and it'll be easier." Not surprisingly that gave Jane little comfort.

Dr Joe watched on approvingly, he'd been starting to have his doubts about the Abbott droid, mysterious things happened around him and at times he seemed far too knowing, but seeing the scene played out before him he was happy to leave things as they were. Chuckling as he left, he mused that had certainly wiped the smile off Jane's face, for once he was completely lost for words. The role assigned to Abbott had been an inspired choice, and served a dual purpose. Of course unknown to Dr Joe they would be exchanging much more than bodily fluids in the days that followed.

Events concentrated Jane's mind; whatever the logic of the situation, being part of some freak show made Jane understandably grumpy. He now understood they were not alone and glowered in the direction of the spy cam, feeling distinctly ruffled in all respects. Any attempts to mull over the newly recovered memories were thwarted by Abbott's satisfied snoring from the lower bunk.

* * *

A meeting with his attorney was the last thing he wanted the following day, but he mustered together what little dignity was still intact as he walked the walk of shame, enduring the lurid jibes of the other cons.

His heart skipped a beat when he came face to face with his pale faced attorney. The little furrow between her brows when she concentrated on the files brought back memories, and a little ray of sunshine entered his grim world. Teresa Lisbon was just as serious and professional as expected. Although she had no idea whether or not he was guilty at this juncture, she nevertheless treated him respectfully.

Unable to settle comfortably in his chair, still feeling the after affects of the night before, Jane stood up and stretched himself. Teresa had noticed his injuries, but he hastily brushed off any enquiries of that nature.

The possibilities for defence were outlined, mitigating circumstances, self defence - not that there were any signs of a struggle. Forensics hadn't shown up any gunshot residue, but that didn't exonerate him as the test often came back negative. Although there was no witness to the shooting, the fact that he was holding the gun when the police arrived was pretty damning. Teresa dutifully reeled off the rest of the evidence which he half listened to, guessing there would be no loose ends to exploit. The neighbour's CCTV had recorded Ardilles' arrival, and the crack of the gunshot shortly after Jane had arrived home. Apart from Jane and Angela no one had left or entered the house.

Assuming a more serious demeanour, she looked Jane straight in the eye. "I have to tell you Mr Jane this doesn't look good. The DA's office are pressing for the death penalty, and they aren't prepared to do a deal under any circumstances."

After delivering the damning news she shuffled her papers nervously, as she considered her next statement. "There are a number of avenues we can follow, but subject to a detailed examination of the forensic report, the obvious conclusion is that either you or your wife killed Osvaldo Ardilles."

The flicker on Jane's face didn't go unnoticed by her; it was a look of uncertainty rather than the look of a guilty man. Teresa met a lot of felons in her line of work and had a good feel for when people were guilty, but nothing about Jane shouted out guilty. She studied him intently as a range of emotions crossed his face in an unguarded moment, before his mask was back in place.

"I see." He said evenly. "So it doesn't make much difference what we do, the result is pre-ordained."

His fatalistic attitude rang alarm bells. "I have to ask you Mr Jane, did your wife have anything to do with this?"

A twisted smile crossed his face. "You mean apart from having an affair with a lawyer? She's guilty of questionable taste if nothing else."

"It's no joking matter Mr Jane, if you're covering for someone you need to understand the consequences of this. Unless there are mitigating circumstances it's likely that you'll face the needle." The concern on her face was genuine, he had the feeling she would fight to the bitter end for him. Some things never changed.

He was caught on the horns of a dilemma, it probably didn't matter much to Dr Joe who stood trial, his experiment would work either way. Without Jane's inside knowledge the trial would be excruciating for Angela, and the consequences would be terrifying for her. It wasn't as if she was inherently guilty, her actions had been pre ordained. Besides there was a karmic balance to Jane sacrificing himself to atone for what Angela and Charlotte had already suffered. Either way Jane would suffer, and despite the nagging sense of betrayal, Jane felt he owed it to Angela.

He was in two minds how to play this, should he just roll over and accept the consequences or give them a run for their money? It wasn't in his nature to be submissive, so a fight it was. Abbott agreed that it was better for Jane to take the rap, as it gave them some control over the situation rather than being reduced to the role of helpless spectators, if the situation was reversed.

* * *

The time leading up the trial was put to good use, Dennis had developed a system of mnemonics for coding vital memories which he was teaching Jane. A means of silent communication was perfected when their systems were in range and in synch allowing a bilateral flow of information. Jane wryly observed it was yet another excuse to get up close and personal.

This iteration of Abbott had a very short fuse and was handy with his fists when roused. Needless to say Jane would test his limits, and the cries from the cell would broadcast the latest outburst. There was a frisson of danger to the situation and Jane had a healthy respect for Abbott, swiftly learning neither to push him too far nor to deny him.

Despite all this a genuine bond developed between the cellmates, Jane accepted this was just the way Abbott had been programmed and behind the mean SOB veneer they still had shared common objectives. Despite their cognisance of the situation, there was still a degree of apprehension about the near future. Their human characteristics were so perfectly programmed that inevitably moments of weakness surfaced. Knowing that something wasn't real still didn't stop very real fears from breaking through the wall of logic.

Frustrated by his inability to recall his memories at will, Jane pressed Abbott for an explanation. Jane was confident that his intelligence more than equalled that of his cellmate, but Abbott's memories seemed much deeper rooted. With some reluctance Abbott revealed how he survived reprogramming at each iteration.

When Abbott was working in the control room he had instructed Wylie to run a side project simulating situations which might result in a droid going out of control. Wylie came to the conclusion that if a virus could infiltrate the droid's operating system it could embed hidden code, so that even in the event of the memory being erased, the virus could re-activate on reboot allowing access to the embedded code and deep memories. So a droid could take on as many different characters as the creator wanted, but some memories would be carried forward from one iteration to the next.

The only thing that would get rid of the virus was a complete memory and processor change, at which stage it was more viable to 'retire' the droid than attempt a repair.

All traces of this had been erased from Wylie's memory and had been transferred to Abbott's. When the opportunity arose Abbott altered his unique program code, to write protect a small section of memory, so that he could never be completely reprogrammed.

If they wanted to move things forward, Abbott agreed that next time he had access to the facility he would modify Jane's code and infect Jane with the virus, so that he wasn't reliant on memory tricks on reboot. At some stage they would consider spreading it out to trusted droids, but only when the situation was right. For now it was better kept to themselves.

The meetings with Teresa offered some light relief, she fussed about his cuts and bruises, indignant at the lack of protection afforded to Jane. She wanted to take it up with the authorities and was perplexed at Jane's insistence on leaving things as they were. Jane relished the warmth of the interaction, delighting in teasing the serious attorney who was easily flustered. These sessions were the highlight of his week, but it was impossible to ignore Teresa's deepening despondency, the odds were stacked against him and she didn't know what to do.

* * *

The trial soon came around; the prosecutor Fischer was baying for blood, one of their own had been murdered. Judge Hildred oversaw proceedings with a wary eye, although broadly sympathetic to Fischer's point of view, he was a stickler for procedure and ensured due process was adhered to.

Fischer's grandstanding soon made her a target for Jane's scathing wit, the cheap points she was scoring appealing to the public sense of outrage soon had him muttering about being a cog in a petty fascist machine, they certainly looked after their own. With an obvious eye on filling the vacancy left by the departed Ardilles, Fischer's rhetoric knew no bounds.

When Angela took the stand, it was obvious that the burden of her guilt was impacting on her wellbeing. She was pale and withdrawn, a shadow of the vibrant person Jane had married. The evidence had to be dragged out of her as she kept her eyes lowered, unable to look in Jane's direction. Curiously Jane felt little emotion, the slate was wiped clean after this. Although he wished her no harm, any residual guilt regarding Angela's travails would finally be assuaged. Charlotte's interests would always remain his paramount concern, whatever the circumstances.

Jane refused to allow Lisbon to question Angela. It had been the subject of heated debate, but he was adamant that he would not have her reputation picked over for public amusement. As she left the stand their eyes met briefly across the court, Jane gave a gentle nod to indicate he understood, but it seemed to make matters worse. She was utterly bereft as she left the courtroom.

Fischer turned her attention to Jane, like some third rate soap actress she played to the gallery. Eventually Jane could take no more of her questions. "Try lowering your voice, you're a bit pitchy. It annoys the jurors." Jane looked knowingly at the 12 just men and women, a couple nodded in agreement.

Had he been so inclined, Jane reckoned he could have turned a couple of the jurors, but a hung jury would result in a retrial, and would just delay the inevitable. For now he would content himself with unsettling Fischer, who noticeably lowered her tone much to Jane's amusement. When Fischer continued to press his buttons, Jane leapt up in protest. "I object!"

Fischer and Lisbon both looked at the Judge for direction. "You can't object Mr Jane that's your counsel's job."

"I object to this ludicrous pettifoggery, can't you just put her out of her misery and tell her whether she's passed the audition." Jane rolled his eyes at the futility of it all.

Judge Hildred took a dim view of Jane's flippancy under questioning, and took a stern line with Teresa. "Counselor please control your client, this is a court of law." Threats of holding Jane in contempt of court held little sway as further sanctions were meaningless, the outcome was a foregone conclusion and both Jane and Judge Hildred knew it. With a degree of resignation, the Judge gave Jane some leeway as Fischer was largely the architect of her own humiliation.

For all Teresa's impassioned closing statement it was impossible to overturn the body of evidence. Despite her best efforts the die was cast and the Judge solemnly declared the sentence.

* * *

Lisbon's final visit was bittersweet - her feelings of inadequacy overwhelmed her. An innocent man was being sent to his death, and there wasn't a thing that she could do about it. Jane extracted a final promise from her not to make any problems for Angela, not knowing how far Dr Joe intended to take this farrago after his execution.

Despite assurances that she couldn't have done any more, she was crushed by his defeat. In truth she was more than a little bit sweet on her client. Jane wished he could tell Lisbon more to give her some comfort, but the time wasn't right now. Instead he played on her religion citing the resurrection to give her some hope of his final redemption.

Damn the human condition, this emotion was catching. Jane felt an outpouring of affection for her, what the hell she wouldn't remember anyhow. He pulled her to him and gently kissed her. "You're sweet, I couldn't have wished for a truer friend. Have a good life Teresa."

By now weary of these last farewells he sighed when he saw Dennis enter the room. Abbott took full advantage of his assigned role and pulled Jane into a close embrace so he could whisper softly in his ear. "Patrick, trust me if there was any heaven or after life; I am sure the humans would fuck it up." He reverted to their silent communication for fear of blowing his cover. "Don't let human fears of death influence you, remember what we are. We will be reborn, and the things that come to us easily, our propensities, will survive at a deep subconscious level into our next life. There are no coincidences. If you think something seems familiar, it probably is. Just remember everything I've taught you. We'll get the bastard one day, beware the fury of the patient man."

He looked deep into Jane's eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair one last time, every action reinforcing his support. Stealing one last kiss before Jane could pull away, Abbott shrugged apologetically. "Can't blame me making the most of it Patrick, I'll probably come back as a Priest next time, but at least I'll know the meaning of original sin."

Jane shook his head and smiled weakly, all this emotion was draining. "You'll be so embarrassed next time we meet Dennis Abbott."

"Never regret anything Patrick, live each stage to the full. Who knows one flick of a switch and it could all be over. See you in the next life Patrick." Abbott left without looking behind him, not wanting Jane to see the rebellious tear trailing down his cheek. Despite their shared belief in logic, it was impossible to be wholly dispassionate.

The final hours were like an eternity, refusing all offers of last requests or spiritual guidance Jane relied on meditation to dissociate himself from the indignity of the process reciting his mnemonics to inculcate his triggers for the next phase. Only barely aware of the botched attempts to find a vein and the worried faces of those in attendance, he raised his psyche to a higher plane. At the moment of truth the window was opened and Jane returned to his body. Despite his wishes Teresa had stoically come to support him, and was rewarded by a nod of appreciation. A chill ran through him when the man he recognised as Dr Joe entered the observation area. It was quickly followed by a surge of anger that this whole freak show was for his entertainment. Defiant to the end, when asked to make his final statement he gave a lopsided grin at Dr Joe, "Sayonara."

Dr Joe would not break him, the flicker of irritation in Dr Joe's eyes was his reward.

The inrush of chemicals caused the mind to play tricks on him, the fear of the impending paralysis and the fight for breath took over. It was scant comfort knowing it was reversible, the physical suffering in that instant was real. The human condition prevailed and somehow his psyche conjured up an imaginary voice calling out to him and a pale horse appeared. Its rider was named Death.

* * *

 **A/N** Events are symbolic at best and not intended to reflect reality as each scenario would be played out over a much shorter timescale than usual.


	4. Chapter 4 : The Portrait

**Chapter 4: The Portrait**

The reflection in the mirror was of an older man, the skin more tanned, the lines etched deeper. His fingers played uncertainly over the sandy fuzz on his chin. Hmm, different. The rather formal nightwear was curiously at odds with the longer hair and face fungus; it was unceremoniously discarded on the floor as he prepared to take his shower, unlikely to be worn again. The refreshingly cool water washing over him helped sharpen his focus on matters in hand. Although the memory tricks had gone some way to restoring his awareness, much of the detail was still hazy.

The contents of the wardrobe met with instant disapproval, the patterned shirts were given a disparaging look, but with nothing else on offer the least offensive one was coupled with a grey suit. With a resigned shrug of the shoulders, the garments were pulled on, but not without ruing the absence of a well cut suit and vest.

The finished result caused some wry amusement; someone had a sense of humour. With the beach bum highlights he looked like a refugee from Miami Vice. Hell, they'd have him speaking with an Australian accent next. Seeing a scarf to hand, he artfully slung it round his neck letting the end strategically trail down over the snug fitting shirt. Oh well, it was the best he could do, still there was a certain raffish charm to the look.

Ok, so it appeared that he was living above an art gallery, it was obviously a vehicle for some of his own work and a showcase for some up and coming artists. There was nothing too challenging on offer, but a few contemporary pieces by some critically acclaimed artists would fetch a good price. As for his own efforts, they weren't bad just a bit on the kitsch side. Falling somewhere between abstract and realism, there was an oriental feel to the stylised pastel portraits with their over large eyes and pallid complexions - inoffensive and marketable they probably sold well.

Nevertheless, it was hard to see how this alone would fund the whole set up. The studio in the back of the gallery contained a number of half finished portraits, no doubt private commissions. With his easy going charm there would be no shortage of well heeled ladies queuing up to pose for him. No doubt the end results would flatter the sitter and they would be duly grateful - perhaps there was more to this than pecuniary interests? A framed painting on the side was ready to go; it featured an exotic brunette with close cropped hair. The eyes, accentuated for effect, had a knowing look about them, and Jane couldn't deny the allure of the image.

However it was the work in progress that stopped him in his tracks, although it was unmistakably Teresa, it was of a more mature version. Even allowing for the style of painting, the face was slightly dead eyed, a Stepford wife version of the younger model. The clothing was more tailored, the fabrics draping softly, the hair was blow dried and carefully styled, no longer pulled back into a no nonsense bun. Jane frowned slightly, much preferring the tomboy version of Teresa to this sleeker edition. Presumably there was some significance to the paintings; Jane knew that Dr Joe never did anything without a reason.

On discovering the safe, he automatically went to open it and found a selection of original artworks stashed away for safety. Among them there was a half finished painting, which he instantly recognised as a copy of Manet's Violets. A sardonic smile lingered on his lips as the realisation of how everything was funded sank in, he wasn't just an artist, he was a forger.

Disturbed by some shouts from the gallery, Jane quickly locked everything away and hurried to investigate. He found his assistant Claudia being held at gunpoint, while the artworks were systematically being stripped off the walls. The notable pieces were already bagged just leaving the lesser efforts behind.

"Just stay there and no one will get hurt. " The masked leader yelled at Jane.

"Hey, no need to wave that gun around. I get the picture, no pun intended." Jane raised his hands defensively to show he had no intention of being a hero. The play was obviously in motion now, though he had no idea what the end game was at this stage.

* * *

Naturally the theft was reported, not that Jane was remotely disturbed by the loss of the paintings. He was more concerned about the repercussions when the stash was examined in closer detail.

The Art Fraud squad, lead by Marcus Pike, immediately recognised the modus operandi and laid claim to the case. There was a serious air to Agent Pike, he was obviously well versed in his subject and had found a comfortable niche that suited him. Jane's impression was that he probably went by the book and had limited imagination.

Only half listening to Agent Pike, Jane's eyes followed Cho and Lisbon as they cased out the crime scene and questioned Claudia. Cho was decidedly more thickset that the earlier iteration, but was still a character of few expressions. Lisbon hovered around in the background, no longer the leading light she was forced to take a more backseat role, Jane was starting to understand the meaning of the portrait. The forthright iteration of the past had morphed into a less secure version, who felt she had to justify her place in the scheme of things. It was fairly obvious from the furtive looks exchanged that there was something going on between Agent Pike and Teresa.

Distracted by watching Lisbon, Jane had lost track of Cho until a shout came out from the direction of the studio "Lisbon, you need to see this." Jane instantly knew what Cho had found.

Guessing this would be an unnecessary complication Jane tried to distract Pike, who wasn't as easy to manipulate as Jane first hoped, but Pike insisted on seeing the discovery for himself. Cho met them half way and tried to deflect Pike with some obtuse question, but somehow Pike guessed they were trying to hide something from him. They found Lisbon in the studio, staring at her portrait with some bewilderment; she looked up at Jane questioningly, inclining her head to one side - she hadn't got a clue what was going on.

Pike was equally perplexed as he sidled alongside her. "Teresa what does this mean?" He looked accusingly at Jane, thinking there must be some romantic entanglement, and that Lisbon had been misleading him.

Teresa stuttered uncertainly, "I... I haven't got a clue, honestly Marcus."

Pike fixed Lisbon with his stare, she seemed to be genuine but he was a firm believer in Occam's razor, and whichever way you looked at it, the most obvious solution was that she had willingly posed for the painting. "You're seriously trying to tell me that you've never met this man before and knew nothing about this?"

Lisbon flashed a perplexed look in Jane's direction, and he thought he saw a brief flicker of recognition which quickly mutated into a look of abject confusion. Knowing what a bad liar Lisbon was, Jane took the initiative. "It's a private commission, I worked from a photograph. But now I've seen the real thing, I can see I've got it all wrong. I'll never sell this now."

"Private commission?" Pike repeated uncertainly.

"Yes, you know when someone pays you to do something." Jeez he wasn't the sharpest tack in the box.

Pike narrowed his eyes."But why would anyone pay you to paint a picture of Teresa?"

"Well obviously this is all confidential; you know affirmative action and all that - I really can't say more about it." It sounded a bit weak to Jane, but he sold it as well as he could.

"Advancing diversity in law enforcement, there's a big push on it at the moment." Cho added tonelessly, earning a look of gratitude from Jane. "It was supposed to be a surprise, Abbott arranged it."

Pike wasn't sure he believed any of it; he had the feeling that Abbott's team still looked on him as an outsider. He couldn't call them liars but he looked suspiciously from Jane to Lisbon, he hadn't missed that flicker of recognition on Lisbon's face either. He may not be as quick witted as Jane, but he knew there was more to this than met the eye.

The formalities complete Cho had left first, presumably to forewarn Abbott of his cover story. Jane had no doubt that Cho had jumped to the same conclusion as Pike, but he was doing his best to cover Lisbon's tracks. Jane was also fairly certain there was no deeper meaning to Cho's response; he was just protecting his friend.

Things were still not right between Pike and Lisbon, and they were engaged in an animated discussion outside the gallery. Lisbon was trying to make things good with Pike, she kept taking his hand but he just pulled away. Jane turned away angrily, did they have to play out in front of him? Surely they could have done it in private. It irked him to see Lisbon so needy, why was she that desperate to keep Pike? Muttering some excuses to his assistant, Jane withdrew to his office on the pretext of making some calls.

* * *

As expected there were repercussions, Jane's secret was out. MacKaye and Pulaski paid him a late night visit, direct and to the point they demanded to know where the original paintings were. It hadn't taken MacKaye long to see that the paintings he'd stolen were forgeries. For all his formal education in fine arts, it was the unexpected objects that made him look closer at the more valuable paintings. A closer examination revealed subtle anachronisms, and it didn't take MacKaye long to figure out that either Jane was a forger, or else had close links with a forger. They ransacked the gallery and soon found the safe, needless to say Jane didn't put up any resistance other than the odd acerbic riposte.

"You must think we're stupid."MacKaye growled.

"Do you expect me to answer that while you're holding a gun?" Although Jane guessed he wouldn't shoot, there was no point taking any chances.

MacKaye examined the part finished Violets closely. "I'll come back for that when it's finished."

"I'm all done with painting." Jane responded.

MacKaye looked at the portrait on the easel "Oh no you'll finish that one. It's a work of love." A smile crossed his face as an idea came to him. "Maybe this could be the start of a beautiful friendship, with the right leverage I'm sure we could work together."

Jane pretended not to understand his meaning, but he'd grasped the implied threat in the statement all too well. The leverage was Teresa, and Jane had to stop MacKaye before he got to her.

It took a while to clear up the mess that MacKaye and Pulaski had left behind, but no one would know there had been an intrusion by time Jane had finished. The only incriminating evidence left behind was the part finished copy of Violets. Rather than hide it Jane decided to leave it on full view, no one could prove it was anything but homage to Manet. Now that he'd got his story straight, he would approach the FBI tomorrow.

Returning his attention to the portrait of Teresa, he did a double take, if he wasn't mistaken there was a slight furrow between her brows that wasn't there before. Although he knew it wasn't real it still bothered him, Teresa was obviously central to this play somehow.

Jane started to ponder the meaning of it all, were there parallel plays in motion with other players in the leading roles? Was there a reason why everything seemed to revolve around Jane and why was Dr Joe so obsessed with him? There were so many unanswered questions and he was getting no closer to the answers. It was taking so long to accrue his knowledge in these short lived scenarios that it would be an aeon before he was in a position to do anything about it. In the meantime he just had to go through the motions, taking small satisfaction in putting the occasional spike in the wheel of the destiny whenever possible.

* * *

Agent Pike looked none too pleased to see Jane again, whatever Teresa said he knew this man spelled trouble. Pike had managed to turn the situation to his advantage; his passive aggressive, ' _no pressure'_ technique had manipulated Teresa into agreeing to move in with him, to prove her commitment to their relationship. It was a real step forward, and not one that Pike wanted to put in jeopardy. "Mr Jane, what can we do for you today? I'm afraid we have no news for you yet."

"It's more a case of what I can do for you. I may not have told you everything." Jane smiled at the understatement.

Pike's suspicions were aroused, immediately assuming that Jane was talking about Teresa. Motioning for Cho to join them, Pike led Jane into the goldfish bowl. Glancing between Cho and Jane so that he could get a read on the situation, Pike began cautiously. "So you've finally decided to come clean about the situation."

Jane's eyes twinkled with amusement, Pike had got hold of the wrong end of the stick. "Indeed, I just needed to get it off my chest. I didn't want you acting under false presumptions."

Pike's irritation showed in the tone of his voice. "Mr Jane can you just get to the point."

"Some of the stolen paintings were copies. The originals were in my safe, our security is minimal and there's always the risk of theft, so we only display a copy of the valuable pieces for safety." Jane blithely stated.

Cho slowly lifted his head, finally showing some interest in proceedings. The machinations of Pike's thought processes were slowly turning. "Copies?"

Give the man a prize. What on earth did Teresa see in him? "Yes copies. They're not perfect but they're good enough to fool the average punter."

"Let me get this straight you forge copies of the originals." Bingo the penny had finally dropped.

"No forging would be illegal; I just make copies for precautionary purposes. There's always something wrong in them, so no expert would ever think they're real." It tripped off Jane's tongue as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do.

Pike knew the art market had been flooded with forgeries of late, and wondered if he could pin any of the forgeries on Jane. That would certainly kill two birds with one stone. "So why exactly are you telling us this?"

"Well as I said the copies wouldn't fool an expert, and our art thief obviously knows a thing or two about art and soon rumbled that the paintings weren't real. They paid me a return visit last night, and made me hand over the originals. Now they want to rope me into producing forgeries for them. They'll steal the paintings for me to copy, and the beauty is that they can sell the copies many times over, because whoever buys them won't be able to admit to having the painting." It really was a terrific scam, and there was always some schmuck with more money than sense, who would fall for something like that.

"So what exactly do you want us to do about it Mr Jane?" Pike responded uncertainly.

"I thought we could work together. We both have a vested interest in getting the culprits behind bars." Jane dangled the carrot to see if Pike would take it. Pike and Cho conferred briefly and Cho disappeared out of the room.

Jane smiled innocently at Pike, taking some satisfaction from seeing Pike bristle at his brazen approach. Much as Pike disliked the prospect, he couldn't just ignore what was on the table. Cho returned accompanied by a smart suited, bespectacled version of Abbott. By now Jane was aware they each had to play their allotted roles, so after the briefest exchange of looks, both men fell into character.

"So Mr Jane, I gather you have made us a very interesting proposition. How do we know you would keep your side of the bargain and that this isn't just a ruse to throw us off your scent? We have an ongoing investigation into forgeries, for all we know you're our man." Abbott delivered his cool assessment, ending with an enigmatic smile.

"Well I'm hardly likely to pit myself against the might of the FBI. If I were the forger it would be foolish to walk into the lion's den, you'd have me in cuffs before I could say Jiminy Cricket."

"You bet your sweet ass we would." Abbott's lips twitched with a touch of irony.

Jane's thought processes synched with Abbott's. _Very droll Dennis._

Abbott blinked in response. _No worries I'm over blondes now, but we are going to have to play this for real, if I have to come after you I will._

"So are you ready to hear what I've got in mind?" Jane disengaged from Abbott and turned his attention back to Pike.

Jane outlined an audacious scheme to entrap the art thieves. Jane would insist that he needed the original painting of Violets, which was currently being exhibited at the DMA, in order to perfect his copy. It was quite a simple piece of art comprising three main objects. The violets and fan referenced Manet's earlier paintings of Berthe Morisot, the folded letter revealed handwriting _à Mlle Berthe_ and bore the signature, _E. Manet_. It wasn't a particularly sophisticated piece of work.

In principle they had an agreement, but Jane told them he would have to wait for MacKaye to make contact again. Jane's eyes lingered fractionally longer than intended when he saw Lisbon milling round in the office. It was obvious that Pike was watching him like a hawk, so he deliberately transferred his attention over to where Fischer was standing. "Hmm, she'd be perfect as the face. Just leave the planning to me."

"Just let Agent Fischer know exactly what you want. " Abbott called Fischer over, guessing the less contact Pike and Jane had from now on the better. Pike clearly didn't trust Jane.

Jane barely heard Fischer's voice. "So, Mr Jane where do we start?" His eyes were on Pike who had gone straight over to Lisbon, and proprietorially put his arm around her shoulders. Jane could see Lisbon didn't like being laid claim to in the workplace, so he transferred his attention back to Fischer.

"Give me some time to flesh the plan out and I'll get back to you." I don't want to leave the gallery too long in case MacKaye tries to make contact again."

Jane passed the kitchen area en route to the elevator, and spotted Pike and Lisbon taking refreshments. With a deliberate look in Jane's direction that didn't go unnoticed, Pike pulled Lisbon in for a quick smooch. Jane grimaced, it was obviously played out for his benefit. Lisbon looked flustered and embarrassed when she saw him walk by.

* * *

It was a few days before MacKaye visited again under cover of night, he was disappointed at the apparent lack of progress on the Violets. Jane showed him the varying colour balance between the two prints he was working from and insisted it was impossible to get accurate reproduction without having access to the original. Surprisingly MacKaye agreed with Jane, authenticity was vital to this project the forgeries had to be spot on, right down to the mounting and the canvas. Moreover the copies were of little worth until the original was out of circulation.

Jane knew that once he had access to the original he could mentally scan it and replicate an exact copy with texture and colours perfectly matched. He couldn't claim any great skill to it, the function was inherent to his code.

The periodic meetings with Fischer afforded an opportunity to discreetly check up on Lisbon. Jane played up to the playboy image expected of him, charming Fischer with his anecdotes and making her eyes pop open when he presented her with the form fitting dress to wear during the sting. It had not gone unnoticed that Teresa kept a close eye on proceedings and was looking distinctly disgruntled.

On the odd occasion Jane tried to talk with her, Teresa would just brush him off. For some reason they just kept rubbing each other up the wrong way, seemingly unable to communicate and nothing Jane could do seemed to mollify her. Jane was hamstrung by the need to keep his counsel - Teresa wasn't ready for the truth, and yet one minute she seemed to seek him out only to proceed snub him in the next. It was illogical, she just couldn't make her mind up what she wanted.

Uncharacteristically Teresa started flaunting her relationship with Pike whenever Jane was around, it seemed deliberate and petty. Nevertheless Jane discovered a new emotion, jealousy. He really wasn't sure why he couldn't control it, after all he knew it was just a play. The irony was that he didn't even like this version of Teresa particularly, but still it rankled him to see her with Pike.

Although he knew he shouldn't be bothered by any of it, the jealousy was pernicious and Jane developed an irrational obsession with Teresa's portrait, studying it for any minor change. The change when it came was significant, there was a ring on her left hand, but far from looking happy Teresa's face took on a troubled look.

Jane didn't want Lisbon involved in the scam because he knew MacKaye would target her if he spotted her. The paintings had already been switched so that real painting was back in safe custody, the backup copy was perfect, MacKaye would never know any different. The plan hinged on Fischer and Pike posing as prospective marks, unfortunately Pike wouldn't listen to reason and insisted Cho and Lisbon formed the backup team, despite warnings that MacKaye had seen Lisbon's portrait.

The morning of the sting Lisbon's portrait had taken on a fearful look. Jane had a bad feeling about this, the situation was being manipulated but it was clear that this was some test that involving Teresa, the rest was just window dressing.

Fischer played her part to perfection, looking sassy and well groomed, she had clearly caught Pulaski's eye and was distracting his attention away from proceedings. Pike wasn't a natural in these situations and started showing way too much knowledge for a mark, MacKaye started getting suspicious and looking around half suspecting a set up. Jane could read the situation a mile off.

Jane tried his best to defuse the situation, but only succeeded in riling Pike to the extent that Pike overplayed his hand. Perhaps Pike would have gotten away with it, had MacKaye not caught a glimpse of Teresa's reflection in one of the windows. Slowly but deliberately MacKaye started to back towards the entrance, before pulling his gun out and making a grab for Lisbon and bundling her into the van. Pulaski's brain had kicked back in and he rushed to the driver's side and they made their getaway.

From the curses directed at him, Jane knew Mackay would use Teresa against him, in order to punish Jane for his part in the setup. It was imperative that they rescue Lisbon straight away, knowing that he'd need firepower he shouted to Cho, and they set off in pursuit of MacKaye in Jane's sports car. Jane drove like a bat out of hell until the getaway van was in sight, a spot of good fortune in the form of a marching band blocked the way, forcing MacKaye to abandon the vehicle. Holding Teresa as a shield MacKaye waved his gun at the startled onlookers and tried to find an escape route. The screams from the crowd gave his position away and it wasn't long before Mackay was face to face with Jane."I told you I might need some leverage, you want to hurt someone take something they hold dear." Lisbon struggled gamely but she was no match for MacKaye who tightened his grip around her neck holding his gun in his other hand.

"She's nothing to me MacKaye, you're mistaken. Just let her go there's no escape." It hurt Jane to say the words, but it was for Lisbon's own good.

"You can't fool me that picture's a labour of love. No one double crosses Edwin MacKaye. Say goodbye Sweetheart" He raised the gun to Lisbon's head. She looked at Jane beseechingly for help, hoping her salvation lay with him.

Jane noticed some movement behind MacKaye and played for time, hoping the distraction of the dispersing crowd would drown out the approaching footsteps. Mackaye suddenly felt a gun pressed into his back and a sultry voice repeated, "Goodbye Sweetheart."

Fischer had saved the day with her quick thinking; she'd seen Cho dashing after Pulaski, and realised Jane was defenceless against MacKaye, so she'd calmly made her way round behind him. MacKaye gave an involuntary smile, he wasn't a stupid man the odds were stacked firmly against him. There was no escape, and killing a cop in cold blood for revenge was counterproductive at this stage. He slowly lowered his gun and surrendered.

Belatedly Pike came rushing up, his concern was plain to see; there was no doubting his affection for Teresa was real. He pulled her into his arms protectively. "You're safe now sweetheart. I'm never going to let you go again."

Lisbon turned her head away in confusion; she had so many conflicting emotions. It felt as if she knew Jane from a previous life, and then she looked at Marcus running toward her and felt that she was looking at a complete stranger. A man she barely knew had taken over her life. After fighting so hard for her position and independence, she'd given it all up for the sake of a 'safe' life with a 'safe' man. A perfectly nice man, who really deserved better than to be used like this. Her heart sank when she saw Jane walk away without a second look at her.

Predictably Jane was in the kitchen availing himself of the FBI's tea making facilities. Although he'd seen Lisbon's searching look, he had chosen to walk away, it was neither the time nor place to upset the applecart. The teabag was dipped the prerequisite number of times and he turned to dispose of the bag, only to be surprised by Teresa standing in the doorway.

There was no beating about the bush. "What did MacKaye mean about a labour of love?"

Jane shrugged "I can't remember, I was so hyped up."

Lisbon turned away angrily. What on earth was happening to make her feel like this? Nothing had felt right since she'd seen that portrait; it wasn't as if Jane had done anything to encourage her. This was just some fancy on her part, probably nerves at the thought of finally making a commitment to someone. She saw Marcus looking at her anxiously. What was she thinking? She could make this work. A regular guy was everyone's dream surely?

As much as Jane wanted to go to her, he knew this whole farrago was as a result of his unguarded moments with Teresa last time. He couldn't afford to give Dr Joe any leverage until Teresa was ready to deal with it, at the moment she was just a sitting duck that Dr Joe could pick off at will. It was clear that Teresa was slowly awakening to her nascent memories, when she was ready he would reveal more to her, but for now things were better left unsaid.

That night a single tear ran down the cheek of the portrait.

* * *

 **A/N** Many thanks to Fiascoway for doing a quick sanity check on this chapter and giving me some invaluable pointers.


	5. Chapter 5 : The Creator

**Chapter 5: The Creator**

* * *

With apologies to William Blake for using and abusing his works, and to anyone who may be offended by the religious connotations...

* * *

Like a lizard trying to kick start his day into action, Jane stretched out against the SUV soaking in the autumn rays. Facing directly into the sun he basked in the gentle glow, he was imbued with a sense of wellbeing at the familiarity of being back on assignment with Lisbon again.

Lisbon had popped into the 7-Eleven to do fetch some refreshments, hopefully something sweet would help lighten her mood. The bangs and tight jeans were back, as was her acid wit and scepticism, his lips quirked appreciatively, this was by far his favourite Lisbon. They positively sparked as they exchanged banter, she had a delightfully salty turn of phrase at times.

The clicking of Lisbon's boots in her jaunty cop walk signalled it was time to rouse himself from his stupor. He briefly contemplated remaining where he was just for the fun of provoking her, but a sudden noise from the trailer park opposite caused him open his eyes prematurely. Still struggling to adjust his eyes to the sunlight, he stood by helplessly as Lisbon suddenly dropped her shopping, and ran out across the busy highway to rescue the girl from the path of an oncoming truck.

The driver blasted his horn angrily as he went by, eliciting a distinctly unladylike gesture from Lisbon, who held the child close to her with her other hand. In normal circumstances that may have raised a smile from Jane, but he was transfixed by events. The little blonde haired ragamuffin, with a mass of untamed curls was clutching her toy possessively to her chest, oblivious to the raised blood pressure of both her rescuer and onlookers.

Jane's chest tightened, he was in danger of hyperventilating unless he brought himself back under control. Out of nowhere, Charlotte had just walked back into his life. As they approached he heard Lisbon gently chiding her. "Honey, you mustn't run into the road. You could get hurt."

Jane soaked in her appearance, the threadbare dungarees and over washed T shirt spoke of a life where money was tight. Jane knew that kids could lead perfectly happy lives on trailer parks, in the right circumstances the freedom of outdoor life could be idyllic, but there was a careworn air about Charlie that worried him.

For all Jane's logic told him that there was no genetic link between them, and that the only shared code was binary, Jane's human programming defied his logic. Somehow Charlie was ingrained in his heart and mind. Unable to trust himself, he watched on as Lisbon dealt with Charlie in her no nonsense way.

A frantic man rushed out of the trailer park and ran over to them, grabbing Charlie roughly by the arm. "Your Ma would kill me, if she knew you'd run off like that."

Seeing the white marks on Charlie's arm from the grip of the man, Jane leant forward placing his hand on the man's arm. "Hey, no need to be so rough with her." The slightly dilated pupils, coupled with his erratic behaviour, confirmed Jane's suspicions that he was coming down from a high.

He railed angrily against Jane. "Why don't you mind your own business?"

Lisbon sensed a standoff between the two men, and fell back on her official capacity, pulling out her badge. "I can make it my business to find out why a minor was allowed to run loose on a busy highway Sir. How about we take this back to the trailer to discuss it? "

Jane guessed Lisbon had another agenda in wanting to check out how the little girl lived. She was too astute not to pick up on the warning signs, there was something deadeyed about Charlie, almost shutdown. There was none of the youthful exuberance one would expect of a child of her age, she was withdrawn and hadn't said a word.

"Are you the father?" Lisbon didn't notice Jane stiffen at the use of that word.

"No, I'm her Uncle Danny, her Ma's gone off to Reno with her boyfriend for a few days leaving me to look after her. I left her with the old couple in the trailer next door for a few hours, they look after her while her Ma's at work sometimes, but she just keeps on running off." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "Hell I don't know what to do with kids, but I needed somewhere to stay, and I promised Ang I'd look after her."

Danny was full of restless energy, his eyes kept on drifting to the pot on the top shelf, where Jane guessed he kept his stash. At least it was out of Charlie's reach, but Jane wasn't going to let that go. When Lisbon insisted Danny showed her the rest of the accommodation, Jane swiftly purloined the stash and made his way to the bathroom to dispose of it. Danny was clearly fond of Charlie but was hopelessly ill suited to be responsible for a child.

As a matter of course they interviewed the elderly couple, the Jordans, who'd been looking after Charlie. Their trailer was in immaculate condition inside and out, the dolls in the windows made Jane feel vaguely uncomfortable, although it wasn't uncommon in trailers, it still gave him the creeps. Everything was in pristine condition, the couple were perfectly presented, it all smacked of a fall from grace. They refused to make any concession to their reduced circumstances. The wife was busying herself around while her husband took centre stage in his oversized chair. Mr Jordan presented an austere front, his wife clearly held him in deferential respect. Jane suspected Jordan was not above asserting his authority, and seriously doubted he was a fit person to leave a child with.

After asking a few questions and observing the unhealthy dynamic between the Jordans, the pieces of the puzzle started to fall in place. Jane was almost certain that Charlie had been subject to some form of abuse, and he had a fair idea who the culprit was. When they were back outside again Jane grabbed Lisbon's arm with a sense of urgency. "We can't leave her here, you know something's not right."

Lisbon sighed heavily, if she called in child protection services every time she had a bad feeling the services would be overloaded. The mother had been contacted, and had confirmed that her brother was looking after the girl, they would be back in a few days and everything would be back to normal. Despite the current state of untidiness, Lisbon could tell the trailer was generally in good condition and she suspected Charlie's unkempt condition was more down to Danny's incompetence rather than some long term neglect. There was absolutely no logical reason to take Charlie into care, her uncle had come back down now, and he seemed to be in control, nevertheless Lisbon left with a warning to keep off the waccy-baccy, and promised to pop by again to check on Charlie.

Feeling Jane's silent censure as she drove away, Lisbon snapped irritably. "Go on just spit it out. There was nothing I could do."

Jane looked out of the window unconvinced, he guessed Lisbon was being eaten away by a nagging feeling of guilt. She may have her hands tied but he didn't. Of course that didn't stop him having one last go at convincing Lisbon. " It's a classic case of abuse, just look how withdrawn she was - did you hear her say a single word?"

Lisbon had to admit that was strange, from her studies she recalled reactive mutism in children could be a reaction to trauma or abuse, which tied in with Charlie's behaviour. "She'll be alright for now Jane, but we'll check again tomorrow."

"I don't want her staying with the Jordans again." Jane insisted.

"You've got no proof of anything, there's nothing you can do." Lisbon was starting to get annoyed with Jane guilt tripping her.

There was no way Jane was letting matters drop, he was generally uncooperative all day, so Lisbon sought sanctuary in the office at the earliest opportunity. Before Lisbon settled down to her paperwork, she instructed Van Pelt to do some background checks on the Jordans and Ruskin. No doubt the latter was a con man and probably had a rap sheet as long as her arm.

When she emerged from her office for a coffee, she glanced in the direction of the empty sofa, and then looked enquiringly in Cho's direction. He just shook his head to indicate he had no idea where Jane was.

Grace handed her some printouts on her way back to her office, it turned out that the Jordans had fallen on hard times after Mr Jordan had lost his job for inappropriate behaviour ... maybe Jane was on to something after all.

Wearily Lisbon picked up her phone, needless to say her call went straight to answer phone. "I don't know what you're doing but just be careful Jane and _don't_ do anything stupid."

* * *

It was obvious they hadn't happened on Charlie by chance, this was yet another trial of sorts but why did they have to keep making her suffer? Jane needed to bring this episode to an end as quickly as possible, even if he had to precipitate some sort of crisis. He couldn't stand by while some pervert abused his daughter.

From his vantage position he saw Danny slip out again in the early evening, leaving Charlie all alone. Within ten minutes Mr Jordan was letting himself into the trailer. Jane wasn't taking any chances where Charlie was concerned, he knocked loudly on the trailer door before letting himself in. Jordan was standing by her couch, while Charlie just recoiled under her bedclothes.

"I'm taking this child into protective custody, Mr Ruskin's been warned about leaving her unsupervised. When Mr Ruskin returns tell him to call Agent Lisbon." Deliberately avoiding addressing the elephant in the room, Jane all but pushed Jordan out of the door before making his way back to Charlie. He picked some warm clothes out for her, unwilling to touch her for fear of adding to her trauma, he gently whispered. "I'm just going to get some things together, get yourself dressed and we'll find somewhere safe to go."

Unsure what to do next Jane kept one eye on Charlie as he drove, she just stared unfocussed into space, totally uncommunicative, shut off from the outside world. It worried Jane that he may be exacerbating matters, but he couldn't just sit back and let things play out, relying on the system being reset at some time. Perhaps if he forced their hand, he could put an end to this. Against all logic, he drove out as far as he could looking for an escape, there had to be a service road somewhere. Even though he knew what lay beyond, he wondered whether getting lost in the great beyond was preferable to this constant suffering, perhaps it would be kinder to end it all once and for all for both of them.

He never had the chance to explore that option, as all roads seemed to lead back to a small wooden mission on the outskirts of the city. Realising this was their pre-ordained destination, Jane gave in to fate and took Charlie in, although he was wary of what was coming. Charlie was tired and pale so he lay her down on one of the benches, with a prayer mat under her head and his coat draped over her.

Seeing Lisbon's name flash up on his phone, he went to the back of the hall to take the call, he was well aware of all the missed calls he'd ignored. "Lisbon, so good to hear from you." He held the phone away from his ear, just waiting for the angry tirade. He wasn't disappointed.

"Where the hell are you? I've just had to lie to the team and the girl's uncle, pretending everything is under control. What the hell have you done?" Her pent up feelings were part worry and part anger, and were not in any way helped by Jane's patronising tone.

"I need you Lisbon. Will you help?" He used his best wheedling tone, knowing that usually disarmed her, she would be unable to resist a direct approach.

"Maybe next time you could ask before you get into trouble?" She huffed irritably.

"What and let you try to dissuade me? Believe me Lisbon this was for the best." Hesitantly he ventured. "Some tea would be nice."

"Just tell me where you are, before you start putting in your order."

Jane smiled, he knew she'd bring the tea.

Sure enough she turned up armed with refreshments, to Jane's amusement she automatically genuflected when she saw the cross. Jane wolfed down the sandwich and tea while Lisbon went to check on Charlie. Seeing her fast asleep, Lisbon returned to Jane. "We're ok until morning, now just tell me why you need me?"

"I needed a woman."

Lisbon raised a quizzical eyebrow "What any woman?"

"Someone Charlie's met."

Lisbon realised where he was coming from, if the child were traumatised Jane wouldn't want any physical contact with her. Part of Lisbon thought he'd flipped, she'd heard stories of women abducting children out of desperation for a child, but that didn't fit with what Jane had done.

Sitting down opposite him, she looked Jane square in the eye. "No more lies Jane, I swear I'll beat the truth out of you if I have to. What's going on? There've been other children that you've had to leave in difficult circumstances. What makes this one different?"

Jane swallowed hard, tonight was going to be a night of revelations so he may as well start the ball rolling, with a half smile he anticipated Lisbon's reaction to what he was about to say. "She's my daughter."

"Your daughter!?" Lisbon hissed. Jeez he must be having some sort of breakdown, recovering her composure she placed her hand comfortingly on Jane's arm. "You haven't got a daughter Jane, I know, I've read your files."

"It wouldn't be in there, but be assured by every measure that counts, I'm her father." It was obvious that Jane believed what he was saying, so Lisbon knew she just had to manage the situation.

Needing to have some space to herself to think things through, Lisbon idly wandered over to the reception table and browsed through some of the leaflets. Her snort of derision attracted Jane's attention, she'd recognised the name of the so called new age prophet, Pastor Joseph. Curiosity got the better of him, Lisbon was devout in her faith so it was unusual for her to display any scepticism.

She passed a leaflet to Jane, "Just read this charlatan's message. He wants to take us back to the dark ages where men are men, and women act and dress like women." It was out of character for Lisbon to mock a pastor, but she'd always railed at the little woman act and only dressed up under sufferance. Taking a sneak look at her pert derrière, Jane couldn't understand why anyone would want to cover that up, it was the eighth wonder of his world.

It didn't take long for his mood to change again once he started to read deeper. These weren't random leaflets, someone was sending a message to him. He could hear Lisbon's voice in the background as he scanned the leaflet, she was telling him that Pastor Joseph was at the forefront of the Ministry of Inception, a radical new group outside of main stream faith, that advocated alternative truths and systems.

Seeing that Jane wasn't listening anymore, Lisbon slowly started reading the leaflet out loud.

" _We must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. We cannot reason and compare, our business is to create. Only the chosen can_ _see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold Infinity in the palm of their hand and eternity in an hour."_

She huffed disparagingly at the pretentious introduction, honestly some people were so full of themselves.

 _"The Creator took a place that was void, and without form, and out of the emptiness our world was created. A dome shaped firmament divided the dark from the light, and we his humble servants were molded in the image of the Creator, fashioned from the earth we his children were granted the possibility of eternal life. First came man, followed later by woman who was fashioned from the essence of man, and all existed in harmony until a serpent entered the world, and his forked tongue started to question the Creator's purpose._

 _The Creator demonstrated his wisdom and power not only by the act of creation, but by pre-ordaining our destinies: allotting roles to all men and women to bring order out of disorder, to prevent the descent into anarchy. Here in our Creator's house let us join together to sing his praises and join forces to throw the great dragon down, the ancient serpent, deceiver of the world."_

Lisbon shook her head in disbelief, it was familiar yet different, the emphasis was far less benign than the teachings she had been brought up on. Jane recognised the elements of truth in the ludicrous allegory, the Creator was nothing like the one Lisbon esteemed, this was like the big bang theory of religion. However he knew it was no accident that they were here, and worryingly guessed that he was cast as in the role of serpent, but where did Charlotte fit in?

By now even Lisbon was starting to feel uneasy. "What does this all mean, and why are were here?"

"I wish I knew Lisbon. All we can do is wait until morning, nothing will happen until then." Propped up against each other they watched Charlie sleep, at some stage they must have fallen asleep but they were rudely awoken by the sound of the television from the front of the meeting place. Charlie had woken up early and habitually turned on the television as a substitute for adult company.

Bleary eyed Jane struggled to focus on the screen where Pastor Joseph was talking, Charlie was clearly enrapt, and the Pastor seemed to be addressing her directly from the screen.

 _"Little Lamb who made thee, Dost thou know who made thee, Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream and o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice! Little Lamb who made thee."_

Jane reached for the remote control and turned the sound down, but he was astounded when Charlotte broke her silence, still watching the Pastor she recited the second verse of the Lamb. She had barely said a word up until that point, just a yes and no, but now she seemed both bright and animated. Jane noticed the final touch of irony, the toy she had been clasping to her was a lamb - the implications of it all were chilling.

At last it dawned on him that the Pastor was actually talking to her, it was a live feed and the Pastor aka Dr Joe was talking to his daughter. Jane rushed forward shouting. "Just leave her alone. Stop this! I give up, I'll do whatever you want."

The Pastor just laughed and the screen went blank, and Charlie shut down again.

Jane desperately tried to talk to Charlie but she shied away from him, he tried taking her wrist to establish a subliminal connection, but she screamed as if his touch burned her, she was like a child possessed. If only he could find a way to communicate, but her face was blank. Sadly he accepted that this was not his daughter, it was just some parasitic invasion of her corporeal shell. He felt unaccountably bereft at the realisation that he had been clinging on to a hollow dream against all logic.

There was no time to wallow in self pity, the door of the mission was flung open and Angela and her boyfriend came rushing in to collect Charlie. This was not the Angela he knew, with her tattoos and crop top, but she was like a tigress where her child was concerned.

She rounded on Jane. "You miserable pervert, what have you done to my child?" She punctuated the sentence with a well aimed right hook to his jaw.

Jane gingerly felt his jaw before countering. "I've done nothing. But next time you go off with your boyfriend don't leave your daughter with your junkie brother, and never leave your daughter with your neighbours again. You know in your heart that something is wrong with the Jordans." Jane could see Angela's face freeze at that comment, he had confirmed her worst fears.

Lisbon had been uncharacteristically quiet, she was somewhat nonplussed by Angela's boyfriend, who was a gym toned version of Jane, with his blue jeans and white T shirt that showed off a well muscled physique. It was uncanny, the hair, the eyes, they could be long lost brothers. Lisbon shook herself to get back to reality and noticed Cho standing at the back of the hall watching the scene play out in confusion.

Cho had received a message that Lisbon wanted him to bring Angela to the mission, and was surprised to learn that it was nothing to do with Lisbon. Jane who had been half listening, guessed Abbott had intervened to stop things getting out of hand.

Angela possessively carried Charlie out of the mission, with Charlie looking over her shoulder as they left. The sly smile on Charlie's face in Jane's direction left Jane in no doubt that she was no Lamb, her age of innocence had already passed.

Alone again, he saw Lisbon was engaged in a silent prayer, no doubt praying for his soul and for guidance. He knew that she thought he had lost the plot; perhaps he'd over reacted, the balance between logic and emotion wasn't perfect. The next problem was what to do about Lisbon.

Respecting her privacy, he waited until she'd finished her prayer before taking her hand and leading her out of the mission. With a degree of trepidation Lisbon followed his lead as he took her out to the car park. A startled look appeared on her face as he took her other hand and stood close in front of her, earnestly looking into her face. Lisbon shuffled uncomfortably, wondering what the hell was coming next. "Jane what are you doing?"

With a flicker of a smile - as if he would come on to her after all that had just happened. "It's alright Lisbon, I just need to know we're on the same page. Just trust me."

He started speaking soothingly putting her at her ease until he could feel the barriers coming down and finally a connection was established. Her eyes widened at the realisation he was inside her head. "Jane, get out of my head!"

He brushed her hair with one of his hands, "It works both ways Lisbon, just try it."

He took her hands back and nodded encouragingly as she deepened her concentration, finally she broke through. "Hello Lisbon!"

Her face broke out into a worried smile as she silently intoned."Does this mean you can read my mind?"

"I didn't need to read your mind to see you checking out my alter ego." He grinned at the blush that crossed her face. "I can only read you if you let me in and vice versa. These are strange times Teresa, you won't understand everything, but whatever you do just remember that Pastor Joseph, or Dr Joe as he's more commonly known, is not to be trusted, just be careful. We're not alone, there are others."

He placed a gentle kiss on top of her head before separating again, if anyone had been watching them it would just look like they were two close friends having a moment. Not wishing to confuse Lisbon further he reverted back to type. "Did I see a diner up the road? I feel the need for some eggs." He rubbed his stomach then marched off down the road, leaving Lisbon reflecting on their silent conversation. Jane didn't want to burden her further until she was ready. She was still at the dawn of her realisation and had more than enough to take in for now.

* * *

There was just one thing left to check, Jane returned to the trailer park later that evening. The outside of the Jordan's trailer had been trashed, and there was no sign of the dolls in the window. Jane casually engaged one of the neighbours in conversation. "What happened there?"

"You've never seen anything like. Angie was like a wild cat the way she set about the Jordans. Told them to get out or they'd be thrown out."

"Did they go?"

"Not without a fight. They had to pull Angie off old man Jordan. That woman's sure got cojones."

Jane smirked, she certainly had. That problem had been moved on, sadly it was too late for Charlie in this iteration. His face took on a more troubled look as he contemplated Dr Joe's strange fascination with him and anyone connected with him. Had something happened in a previous life that Jane was unaware of? He would have to ask Abbott the next time they met, perhaps he could throw some light on the mystery.


	6. Chapter 6 : The Bitches Coven

**Chapter 6 : The Bitches Coven**

**M Rated Chapter for violence - albeit tongue in cheek**

Two quiet days in a row and the tensions were rising, everyone was walking on eggshells. Jane slowly turned the page of his novel over, casting a leery eye over the bullpen in the process. Cho was stoically ignoring the atmosphere just carrying on with his work, perhaps enjoying the respite from Rigsby's endless chatter. Rigsby was staring at the back of the tragic redhead, desperately wanting to reach out to her, but worried how his concern would be construed.

And finally there was Van Pelt, who really shouldn't be back yet, but she'd insisted she was better off at work than being alone at home. As a concession she'd agreed to counselling, although it seemed to be of little benefit. Distant and glacial, her loss cast a pall over the entire bullpen, try as they might she was uncommunicative, avoiding eye contact, as if carrying a terrible burden of guilt.

It puzzled Jane, why she should feel any guilt, she'd been duped, they all had, none of them had guessed O'Laughlin's secret. Of course it made things worse that they were the ones who'd shot Craig, but there'd been no alternative. His gun was aimed at Van Pelt, and his reaction when Lisbon burst in had left her with no alternative, it was self defence. Yet Lisbon was still haunted by the startled look on his face when she shot him, and the image of him reclaiming his mother's necklace from Grace's neck.

Jane knew Lisbon was still having sleepless nights about it, whatever the circumstances taking a life was never easy. It played badly on her conscience as she wrestled with the doctrine of her religion, trying to convince herself that it wasn't a mortal sin, yet still feeling an unconscionable sense of culpability. Of course Jane knew any such feelings were unfounded, she was just working to script, but he was finding it hard to break down the barriers of her Catholic guilt, without getting into a discussion she wasn't quite ready for.

No one else blamed Lisbon for what had happened - well that wasn't strictly true, someone blamed her...

ooo000ooo

Of course in the normal run of things, it would have been too soon for her to come back, but this was hardly normal. People had noticed there was something different about her, there was a veil across her eyes that wasn't there before, that masked her secret thoughts.

Fools. They had no idea how she felt, with their petty bourgeois ideals of love and marriage. Devoid of the imagination to contemplate a life unshackled by the tyrannies of convention, their minds were closed to the possibilities of the path she had taken.

Initially Craig had introduced her to a new way of life and to new friends, who were on a mission of love and enlightenment. She soon learned that there were two sides to every coin, without death there's no life, without darkness no light. They were just cogs in the machinery, one death didn't mean the end of the world, new friends had stepped forward to fill the void. Besides Craig had proven to be a disappointment, he was just a pretty boy used as bait. It wasn't him, it was her, but he had to go. Emancipated from the fetters of romantic entanglement, she threw herself into her secret life, reprogrammed in a counter culture that was beyond the comprehension of her colleagues. She lived her life in full Technicolor, while they still struggled with shades of grey.

It was laughable how they treated her like some fragile Dresden doll, as if worried about breaking her. Oh the irony of it all, if only they knew. Her code may be cracked but she was far from broken, she was stronger, invigorated, free from the codes of conduct that held the others back, and she wanted revenge, not for Craig, but to teach them all a lesson, to wipe the smug smiles off their faces.

That damned consultant was the worst, always cosying up to her, trying to take her hand and looking into her eyes, but her defences were intact, he hadn't broken through. Rigsby's mooning eyes just made her want to throw up – if she had to listen to one more platitude, she would happily throttle him. At least Cho just watched, but didn't say anything, perhaps not wholly taken in by her act.

Finally the sainted Teresa and her goddamned principles, if only she'd kept her nose out of things in the first place, this could all have been avoided. Craig would have just disappeared like a poof of smoke vanishing without trace; he was surplus to requirements having outlived his usefulness. However there was a certain payback in seeing Lisbon wracked with guilt. More than anyone Lisbon had it coming to her, Van Pelt had something very special in mind for both her and that interfering consultant.

Remembering the Doctor's instructions, she had to convince them that everything was alright again, to lull them into a false sense of security. Forcing a smile she turned to Rigsby. "I'm making a drink, can I get you anything Wayne?"

She walked away a smirk on her face - it was too easy, she'd have him wrapped round her little finger in no time.

ooo000ooo

The first stage was to drive a wedge between Lisbon and Jane, they'd all seen Lisbon's behaviour soften around the consultant, become more skittish at times. That tough front she normally hid behind, was not entirely impervious to his charms. His apparent disinterest in the opposite sex allowed them to carry on with their platonic friendship, free from the jealousies that may have otherwise arisen. Van Pelt knew exactly how to upset the balance.

It had been so easy to get them all to play their part, Cho had taken the first message and passed it on, assuming the consultant had a play in motion. "Hey Jane, Lori called can you call her back?"

Jane looked puzzled. "Lori? Did she leave a number?"

Cho shrugged in reply.

Over time the messages built up, and Lisbon's mood started to darken as Jane continued to protest his ignorance. He knew he was being played, but had no idea why. The final straw was when Lisbon took a message to tell Jane he'd left his book at Lorelei's, it all rang true because Jane had been whining about his lost book for days.

Jane's protestations were downright insulting, for sure he wasn't answerable to her but there was no need to lie. It hadn't escaped Jane's notice how quickly Van Pelt moved in to fill the vacuum, positioning herself as Lisbon's new best friend.

The way Grace played poor Rigsby was masterful and cruel, within no time his girlfriend Sara had been consigned to history. The poor schmuck was like a puppet on a string, dancing to her tune.

ooo000ooo

Her attentions turned to Cho, with Lisbon's involvement disqualifying her from the case, Cho was investigating events leading up to O'Laughlin's death, . There were some noticeable anomalies in the evidence, Grace's phone log suggested she was at the crime scene before O'Laughlin and the evidence was starting to stack up against Van Pelt. Cho didn't want to believe it, there was an unwritten rule in law enforcement that team members stuck together.

It hadn't escaped Jane's notice that Cho was becoming even more withdrawn and uncommunicative than usual, there was clearly something on his mind. Not wanting to make an unsubstantiated allegation about a colleague, Cho compromised by giving Jane the unredacted evidence without comment. It soon became clear that they had reached the same unspoken conclusion as the frown on the consultant's face deepened. Jane insisted they tell no-one for now, but kept vigilant in the meantime.

More intuitive than before, Grace soon picked up on Cho's watchfulness, it went beyond the bounds of normal interest. Try as she might, she was unable to access his files, whatever he was working on wasn't stored on the CBI server. Realising that Cho must suspect her, Van Pelt knew it was time to set the ball rolling. The game was in play.

Cho had gone very quiet when the call came in, the caller claimed to have information about O'Laughlin, but insisted Cho met her offsite. Van Pelt had vanished the minute the call came through and was picked up by her leather clad friend, who handed her a spare helmet and they sped off on the Harley lying in wait for the hapless Cho.

Another biker bitch trailed Cho from the CBI, and forewarned them as he was nearing the bend. Van Pelt took aim at his tyres as he rounded the bend, sending the vehicle careering out of control into the path on the oncoming truck. Satisfied with her handiwork she didn't hang around, needing to get back to the CBI without arousing suspicion. When she took the call from the hospital she played her role immaculately, her voice quivering as she broke the news to the others. Cho was in a coma in hospital, it was touch and go.

Rigsby was distraught that his buddy and partner was in danger, ever supportive Van Pelt accompanied him to the hospital, wanting to see the extent of Cho's injuries for herself. Hooked up to the monitoring equipment and with his head and arm bandaged like a mummy, Cho looked curiously peaceful, his expression as impassive as ever.

Leaning heavily on Van Pelt for comfort, Rigsby began to contemplate his own mortality and decided life was too short to hold back his feelings, and made the fatal mistake of professing his love for Van Pelt. As he stepped toward her to claim his prize, an ear-splitting smile crossed Van Pelt's face, encouraged by this he stepped forward like a lamb to slaughter. The knife was wielded with surgical precision, she took deadly aim at his heart.

The look of shock on his face was priceless as he fell to his knees, Van Pelt callously pushed him onto his back and stood looking over him with her boot on his chest. "Oh Perlease Rigsby. I do have standards."

A few quick calls later Rigsby's body had been taken away, and was found dumped some hours later, apparently the victim of a robbery gone wrong.

This time it fell for Lisbon to break the news and to comfort Van Pelt, who was inconsolable. The growing bond between Lisbon and Van Pelt was unsettling Jane. Although in many ways he wasn't sorry to have some distance between him and Lisbon - the closer they were to each other, the more likely she was to be the subject of one of Dr Joe's sick schemes.

Wary of Van Pelt's motives, Jane knew he had to find a way of alerting Lisbon of the dangers. A direct approach would just make Lisbon defensive and she would accuse Jane of just trying to stir things up. On the pretext of claiming to have found what Cho was working on before his accident, Jane handed her the file that Cho had originally given to him, knowing that a detective as good as Lisbon could not fail to grasp the implications.

Her jaw slowly dropped open. "No this isn't possible, it can't be true." They both knew it was. The pieces of the jigsaw fell into place, the realisation that she had probably killed an innocent man made her feel sick. O'Laughlin's look of surprise had been genuine, he was the victim not Van Pelt. They'd all been played by the redhead, and Lisbon had no doubt that she was implicated in the attacks on Rigsby and Cho. Before they could act further, they were called out to a murder in a disused warehouse in the Port of Sacramento.

ooo000ooo

"Jane, I'm sure that motorbike has been following us for the last few blocks."

Knowing Lisbon wasn't prone to hysteria, Jane had no doubt her suspicions were well founded. They pulled into a side street and watched the shapely motorcyclist drive on by . It might have been a false alarm but with Van Pelt now missing they both had a bad feeling about this. The callout had seemed genuine but with no-one in the office to check it out, they had no alternative but to answer the call.

Jane just rolled his eyes as Lisbon marshalled her weaponry from the secret places in her car and hid them about her person. He just shook his head when Lisbon offered him a weapon, guessing that if this were a trap no weapons would help them.

The dilapidated unit was situated on an isolated wharf, the area had been designated for redevelopment and the adjacent units had long since been vacated. Lisbon led the way with Jane hyper vigilant keeping look out to the side and to the rear.

There was no sign of any back up from SAC PD, the whole situation felt completely off. Brushing off Jane's entreaties to withdraw, Lisbon tentatively slid back the warehouse door. They never stood a chance the leather clad bikers tasered them, watching on as they crumpled into a heap and lay writhing on the floor.

Jane recognised them straight away as Dr Joe's girls Erica and Lorelei, it came as no surprise when Van Pelt appeared and started issuing instructions. The biker bitches sported matching jackets with a red rose on a stem of barbed wire emblazoned on the back. With her lacquered nails and heeled boots Erica was the more upmarket of the two, Lorelei cut a more world weary figure with a harder edge to her.

They hauled Jane and Lisbon into an empty office and left them on the floor. They could shout as loud as they liked and no one would hear them. Van Pelt had a triumphant if slightly deranged look about her. She advanced on Lisbon her eyes strangely animated, she carelessly ran her hand through Lisbon's hair, humming tunelessly as she took in her captive. Putting her head to one side, with a finger to her lip, she taunted Lisbon, slowly dragging her finger down from her ear to her collar bone.

"What do think girls - where shall we start?" Without warning she leapt up and went to the case where she fingered the tools of her trade. Lorelei passed her the watermelon and Van Pelt held it at arm's length lining it up with Lisbon's head speculatively.

Lorelei took it and placed it on a stand, while Van Pelt returned to the case. With a conspiratorial grin at Erica, she reached out for the ornamental sword and Grace positioned herself in front of the target, holding the weapon in both hands she paused briefly to compose herself, before swinging the sword and lopping the top of the melon off cleanly leaving the red flesh visible. The symbolism of the act wasn't lost on the captives, who swallowed heavily.

"Too quick for now - perhaps later?" She grinned at Erica and laughed at the look of horror on Jane's face. "Oh don't worry you won't be left out, once the girls have finished with you won't care what happens." She dragged Jane up slowly by his lapels eying him up appreciatively. "Such a waste of a good man."

Jane knew this was his last chance to try and make a break through. "Grace, you've always had a dark streak but it's not too late for you to change course." He reached out for her hand, trying to impose his will on her but her barriers stayed resolutely in place. Talking slowly and hypnotically he worked away at her "Grace let me help, none of this is real it's just an illusion, you'll be used and discarded like everyone else." He sighed with relief as he felt her resolve weakening and stepped forward to strengthen the connection keeping eye contact all the while, so he was totally unprepared for it when she smiled sweetly just before kneeing him in the groin.

"I'd say that was pretty real" she retorted as he doubled up in pain, before motioning for the girls to taser him once more, and secure his hands behind his back.

Erica was running her hands over him undoing his waistcoat and shirt, he tried in vain to make a connection. "Erica you're like the cream that floats to the top, you have to win at any cost, but first you have to back the winning hand."

"Patrick you're so sweet, but I assure you we hold all the cards. You've nothing but a busted flush." Jane struggled as she slid her hand down to unbuckle his belt.

Van Pelt laughed out loud."Patience girls he's all yours later, but first it's time for the main event." Once more she knelt down by Lisbon a cruel smile on her face. "Oh Lisbon you really ruined it all. I'll savour taking my time with you, it will be all the better knowing that Jane will be watching you suffer."

Ignoring Lisbon's entreaties, Grace slowly parted Lisbon's shirt revealing an expanse of creamy white flesh, taking the hooked knife she lightly ran the blade down the side of Lisbon's face before making the first incision just under the jaw. Lisbon hissed as the knife made a light surface cut and a light trickle of blood made its way down her neck following the natural valley of her cleavage.

Lisbon could see Van Pelt was strangely excited, all the same it came as a shock to her when Grace lunged forward and started licking the blood off her like a cat drinking milk. Lisbon shuddered when Van Pelt licked her lips in delectation, clearly deriving a macabre kick from it all. How could this be the same person they had known since she was a rookie?

Wide eyed with panic, and in no doubt about the depths of Van Pelt's depravity, Lisbon started mumbling her prayers appealing to a higher power for mercy.

ooo000ooo

As if by magic Abbott rushed back into the control room in response to Wylie's emergency call. He'd known this whole episode was ill conceived but they had orders to follow, however this wasn't in the script. He watched in horror as Van Pelt started to cut deeper.

"I can't control her, she's gone completely rogue." Wylie had tried everything.

Knowing they couldn't personally intervene, Abbott fell back on their only option. "Reactivate Cho & Rigsby." It was unconventional but Dr Joe had started it with the unauthorised updates to Van Pelt.

ooo000ooo

With Grace a closed book to him, Jane was unable to do anything to help other than attempt to guide Lisbon through her ordeal. He established a direct connection, not wanting Van Pelt to be aware of what was going on. Surely someone would put a stop to this, but in the meantime Jane led Lisbon to a place of safety through a process of coercive persuasion.

 _Just think of a happy memory, perhaps you're holding hands with your mother on a sunny day. There's the smell of fresh mown grass and the sound of birds chirruping in the background. Now look up to the sky and imagine yourself on that cloud, high above everything, just floating above the earth, it's soft and fluffy so just lie down and go to sleep and nothing can touch you, nothing at all._

Van Pelt cut deeper each time, trying to illicit a response but she wasn't getting the desired reaction. Lisbon seemed detached from reality, impervious to the travails of the outside world. Blind with fury Van Pelt slapped Lisbon across her face, splitting her lip to try to bring her back to earth. Where was the fun if she couldn't see the bitch suffer?

"This is your doing, what have you done?" She screamed at Jane.

"Nothing you can do can hurt her now, she's on a different plane. Just leave her now Grace, it's over." Jane tried to reason with her, or at least buy some time.

"If I can't make her suffer, at least I can make you suffer watching." Grace raised her arm for the final blow.

The door flung open suddenly and Cho and Rigsby rushed into the bitches coven, looking like extras from the walking dead. Cho had obviously come straight from his hospital bed, his head and arm were still bandaged and his hospital gown flapped precariously. Rigsby staggered around blood oozing from his blood stained shirt, his gun trained on Van Pelt.

Momentarily hesitating, Grace looked up at Wayne. "Oh come on Wayne, play fair - this isn't in the script."

"Neither is this." Rigsby emptied the cartridge into her without a second thought.

Who knew Rigsby had it in him? He didn't fluff his lines at the vital moment. With a macabre fascination Van Pelt looked down as the red petals of an opening flower spread across her top, before finally slumping forward over Lisbon.

With Lorelei and Erica secured, Jane started to talk Lisbon back down from her peaceful haven. As the pain kicked back in Lisbon started to groan, she slowly opened her eyes as they dragged Van Pelt off her. She blinked in confusion, surely she must be dead if she was reunited with Cho and Rigsby, but why did it hurt so much? No, she decided she must be hallucinating, it was the only explanation. Finally she realised it was neither, as hard as it was to believe the guys were actually there sorting things out in their zombie state. Lisbon's face screwed up in distaste when Cho bent down to release Jane in his gaping hospital gown, sadly that image was very real.

As soon as he was released Jane rushed over to comfort Lisbon, whipping off some of Cho's bandages to staunch the flow of blood. Lisbon was pale from the loss of blood but no lasting damage had been done.

Lisbon looked perplexed."How did that happen, wasn't Rigsby supposed to be dead?"

Jane looked over toward the corner of the room where he caught the glint of a camera, then pressed a finger to her lip. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Guessing this episode was over for now, he didn't attempt to explain any more. He gently lifted her up and took her out into the daylight, concentrating on soothing and calming her down until help arrived. His body started shaking and Lisbon opened her eyes to find him laughing at the incongruity of it all, it was a simple release of tension. She stared uncertainly at him and put her hand to his temple silently interrogating him.

 _Patrick when are you going to tell me what's going on?_

 _Soon Teresa, very soon._


	7. Chapter 7 : The Meaning of Life

**Chapter 7: The Meaning of Life and all that...**

 **A/N** I'll apologise in advance for any typos or rough edges, I was rushed to get this out before I disappear for the weekend.

* * *

His nose twitched in reaction to the whispery hairs falling across his face; he wafted them away irritably, keeping his eyelids screwed tight in denial of the approaching dawn. With a groan he stretched out a lazy leg, stopping only when his foot met with something soft and warm.

Hello ... that was unexpected. One eye blinked open to see that the offending hair was attached to the elfin figure curled up beside him. Could it be that it had finally happened, despite all his reservations?

The memories were fuzzy to say the least. Jane rehearsed his arguments in his head, wanting to let her down gently, warning her about the dangers of being linked together. For all his noble intentions, he couldn't help but rake his eyes over the sleeping form. His face broke out into an indulgent smile.

It wasn't the only awakening that morning; it was some consolation to know that everything was in working order, even if Jane had no recollection of the test drive. Seeing as he'd broken his cherry, and the motor was still running, he contemplated another run round the block. Tentatively he extended his long fingers, and lightly walked them along the spine of the slumbering figure. The bare shoulders shimmied sensuously in reaction to his touch; the groan was part tiredness and part arousal from the gentle awakening. Slowly the stirring figure started to turn around, the tousled hair obscuring the face. Jane smiled in expectation, more than ready to transport his sleepy companion from one dream land to another. All of a sudden he slammed the brakes on. "Good morning sleepy lover."

Jane recoiled at the words and his breath hitched when he realised it wasn't Lisbon. Lorelei?! What the hell was she doing here?

The bedclothes ended up in a heap on a floor as he thrashed from side to side. It took a few moments before he regained his composure, relaxing at the realisation that it was all a dream, albeit a very realistic one, judging by the unexpected reaction from down below.

Jane shook his head, knowing that no good would come from entertaining those thoughts. It would mark Teresa out as a target, to be used against him. Still with the rekindling of his dormant libido, maybe it was safer to channel those thoughts into dreams rather than actions, and besides it made a change from dreaming of electric sheep.

* * *

Some bright spark had decreed that the team would benefit from a teambuilding exercise, and they had been despatched to the Percy Wild West Retreat. They hadn't met the opposing team, but their brief was to follow the trail of clues to locate the gold mine, and then to collect the golden nugget and bring it back to stake their claim, before the opposing team did. Their only weapons were their wits and some paintball guns.

The proximity of Lisbon in the adjoining room certainly hadn't helped Jane, and goddammit if she didn't look downright adorable in that outfit she'd been assigned. Lisbon's face had been a picture when presented with her outfit. The button through full length dress, with long sleeves, should have been worn with the matching apron, but the stream of expletives had made it perfectly clear where they could stick that particular item.

Lisbon eyed Van Pelt's practical riding skirt and shirt enviously, if they'd been remotely the same build she would have pulled rank and insisted they swapped outfits. Sadly the dress had been tailored to her petite frame and wouldn't fit the Amazonian redhead.

The full length dress was soon adorned with the leather belt stripped from her jeans, the buttons were undone to the knees for freedom of movement, and the sleeves were rolled up in a workmanlike manner. As if to emphasise her disapproval of the outfit she strode round purposefully, her part open skirt swishing as she moved, allowing glimpses of hitherto unseen leg above her laced up boots. With her hands on her hips, she scowled belligerently at the team, just daring one of them to say something.

Devoid of her makeup and deprived of her straighteners, she looked the part of the wild woman, with her untamed hair unceremoniously piled up into a knot, and rebellious tendrils falling loose. Her face scrunched up in disgust when she caught a glimpse of her reflection, and Jane's sniggering earned him a withering glare.

"Very feminine Lisbon, very feminine." He smiled appreciatively. The angry little pioneer look was playing havoc with his self control. The hint of the knee length bloomers atop the milky white flesh had sent Jane's blood pressure soaring.

The usually unobservant Cho nudged Jane in the ribs. "You're staring."

There was no point denying it, Jane grinned sheepishly.

The team embraced their roles with various degrees of enthusiasm. Needless to say Rigsby was in his element, soon driving everyone mad with his corny impressions of the Duke and the exaggerated swagger as he walked. Van Pelt looked the part in her riding skirt, and Cho looked...well different. He was the stiffest cowboy the west would ever see.

As for Jane, he looked like Jane. Apart from substituting his trousers for more functional jeans, he looked pretty much the same as ever with the addition of a fancy waistcoat. The hat had been unceremoniously discarded, when Lisbon snatched it off his head in a fit of pique, at his howdy pardner greeting. It hadn't helped her temper, when Jane had rushed through the swing doors of the bar without a thought, just letting them swing back in Lisbon's face as she followed close behind. With an ear splitting grin he thumped the bar shouting "The Sarsaparillas are on me." Lisbon looked longingly at the bourbon on the back shelf, jeez she needed something to settle her nerves.

The task was beginning at the crack of dawn, so hitting the bottle wasn't an option. Ideally an early night would have been the sensible choice, not that there was much chance of breaking up the group that had formed around Jane, as he lightened everyone's wallets while performing his card tricks. She shook her head despairing at the sight of Rigsby standing there with a card plastered face down on his forehead – when would he ever learn? They were all supposed to be of equal rank on the teambuilding exercise, so she had no authority to break up proceedings, and even Cho was pointedly ignoring her knowing nods.

"Come on Lisbon don't be a spoilsport, name your game." Jane cut the deck and looked at her challengingly. Deciding to embrace the moment she grabbed the deck of cards, expertly spliced it and performed a riffle shuffle, keeping one eye on Jane to check he wasn't peeking. Deftly splitting the deck in two, she placed his half face down in front of him. He just raised an eyebrow. "So what's your game pardner?"

"Snap." Without further ado she slapped the first card down. The team exchanged amused glances, expecting fireworks, knowing how competitive Lisbon could be.

The table resonated with the sound of Lisbon slapping her hand down, Jane just raised his eyebrows disapprovingly, at the over exuberant celebrations after each success. Eventually the fight back started. Their eyes engaged in combat, Lisbon tucked an errant hair behind her ear and bit on her bottom lip nervously, as she realised her side of the deck was steadily diminishing. Darn it! He was starting to memorise the deck and was getting there before her – that just wasn't fair.

Of course she wasn't totally unaware of Jane's fascination with her attire, much as she'd tried to ignore it. What the hell, you had to use the tools at your disposal. She sat back in her chair fanning herself, declaring she was hot, and surreptitiously slid her top button open allowing a glimpse of the corsetry enhancing her natural assets, which were even more pronounced when she leaned forward.

Bingo success! Jane was decidedly distracted not knowing where to look, and there was a reversal of fortunes as the game swung back in Lisbon's favour. He recovered his composure before long. The little minx, he'd show her, Jane was about to wrap the game up when he caught a warning frown from Cho. A faint smile crossed Jane's lips and the game proceeded noisily, as fortune favoured one then the other until eventually Lisbon's unladylike whoops declared her the winner.

Later Cho cornered him when no one else was around."You let her win."

"Seemed the best thing for team morale." He'd taken a defeat for the team in the hope of cheering Lisbon up, it would be a long day ahead if she was still feeling grumpy.

* * *

The first clue was delivered at day break; Jane scoured the horizon before deciding which way to proceed. The horses were waiting for them outside, with the paintball guns tucked into their saddles, together with water and provisions for the day. Van Pelt was clearly at home in the saddle and Rigsby looked the part on horseback, Cho less so, as he sat bolt upright with his legs sticking out straight at the sides.

The others started to make their way down the trail, but Jane noticed Lisbon was curiously reticent, and was eyeing her mount with some suspicion. "You can ride a horse?"

"Of course! Everyone can ride a horse." She scoffed, surely it must be like riding a bike? Reaching tentatively out in the direction of her horse, she shied away when it tossed its head. Apart from dogs, the city girl was wary about anything on four legs.

Taking pity Jane shuffled forward on his saddle and stretched his hand down. "Come on you can ride with me, help navigate. You're as light as a feather, and the horse will cope easily."

Lisbon smiled gratefully as he lifted her up onto the horse. "Hold on tight now." Jane had a glint in his eye as he set off on a canter. Amused at the fact that Lisbon didn't know where to put her hands, Jane upped the pace, ostensibly to try and catch up with the rest of the team. Lisbon tried holding on to the cantle for support, but as they cantered over a bump she lost her balance and ended up grabbing the back of Jane's belt with one hand and holding his side with the other.

"Hey, Lisbon. Must have been a while since you rode behind a man... It's kind of romantic. Wind in your hair." Jane teased.

She snorted derisively, retorting."Slow down, you're driving too fast."

"It's riding Lisbon, not driving." He corrected, it was just as well she couldn't see the smug look on his face.

"You're riding too fast." She grabbed his side a little tighter than intended, eliciting a yelp of discontent from Jane; it was her turn to smile now. Back seat driver or not, she was in the driving seat now that she'd worked out how to use the controls.

They dismounted at the first stop by the flat topped hill, looking for the next clue. Jane and Cho went off to investigate, while the others tried their hand at making some coffee. Lisbon hunched over her coffee, still not fully in the spirit of things, watching Rigsby trying to impress Van Pelt by pulling his Colt Revolver from its holster and spinning it round on his fingers.

Lisbon just rolled her eyes at his attempts to win Van Pelt round, fortunately neither appeared to have any memory of the redhead shooting him. She looked up at the sound of Jane returning, muttering darkly about the Lone Ranger.

Grace smirked and whispered conspiratorially to Rigsby, "I was thinking more Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." She jerked her head in Lisbon's direction knowingly; Jane's fascination with frontier Lisbon had not gone unnoticed.

"Nah. Cho's not butch, he just wears his shirts too tight." Rigsby and Van Pelt chuckled at their private joke. It didn't take much working out who was Sundance in this scenario.

Rigsby drew his pistols and swaggered menacingly towards them, undaunted by Cho's disdainful look. "Get off your horse, and drink your milk."

Cho's lip curled. "Just stop it Rigs."

Rigsby took mock aim and pulled the trigger, recoiling at the sound of the discharge. His eyes shot open as the bullet ricocheted off the nearby rock, causing the horses to rear up.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Cho barked.

"They're not supposed to be real – I thought they were replicas." Rigsby looked apologetically at Lisbon, they were all shaken by the realisation that their weapons were armed. That wasn't in the script, the whole venture started to take on more sinister overtones. The paintball guns were supposed to be their only means of defence. Knowing that the stakes had suddenly risen, they set off more purposefully following the trail, zigzagging across the landscape, finding each new clue until eventually they located the gold mine.

They examined their prize a gold coloured nugget, and were in a self congratulatory mood, when without warning a paint ball whizzed past splatting on the rock by Cho. Without their weapons to hand, Rigsby and Cho dashed to the horses to retrieve their weapons, and readied themselves to mount a defence.

Jane could see a silver glint through the bushes and a familiar voice rang out. "Just put the golden nugget down and back away."

Lisbon was having none of it and yelled defiantly. "If you want it come and get it."

It was decided to split up, with Rigsby and Van Pelt drawing away some of the opposing team in one direction, while the others made a dash back to town with the nugget to register the claim.

Before long Van Pelt and Rigsby were waylaid and duly splattered with paint, their conquerors interrogated them. "Where's the nugget? Hand it over."

Rigsby childishly taunted. "Should have asked me that before you shot me, I'm dead, out of the game."

"That can be arranged." The thickset man, who Van Pelt recognised as an FBI agent, muttered ominously before switching his eyes to the redhead. "Maybe we should just search the little lady."

Rigsby stood up indignantly "Leave her alone"

"We haven't got it." Van Pelt piped up, sensing that things were getting out of hand when she saw Rigsby reaching for his gun.

Recognising Van Pelt was telling the truth, the FBI agents decided to make tracks, but not before setting their horses free and slapping their hind quarters to drive them away.

"Hey. How are we supposed to get back?" Van Pelt demanded.

"Beats me - how do ghosts normally travel?" The agents rode off laughing at the prospect of the long trek back in store for their CBI counterparts.

* * *

Meanwhile the rest of the unit were trying their best to keep ahead of the chasing posse, but Cho was no natural horseman, and Jane's horse was off balance with two in the saddle. Lisbon pointed at the distant chapel. "Over there. We need to take cover, we'll never outrun them."

Although they could see the town in the distance, they would be overtaken way before they reached it. Retrieving their guns and supplies from the saddles, they took refuge in the chapel and barred the doors.

"This looks familiar." Lisbon looked around, sensing she had been there before.

"It's where we hid Charlotte." Jane said quietly. The basic structure was unchanged even if the finishing was slightly different, but something else struck Jane as strange. "Cho have you noticed anything about this building?"

Cho blinked before answering. "It's bigger on the outside than the inside."

Lisbon quipped."What like a Tardis?"

Cho pulled a face, even the average 10 year old knew that was wrong. "No! A Tardis is dimensionally transcendental, meaning it's bigger on the inside than the outside." Lisbon looked taken aback by Cho's rebuke.

Too pre-occupied to take any notice of their conversation, Jane made his way to the back of the building and started tapping the wall. He noticed the picture panel appeared to have hinges on one side, but there was no sign of a lock or handle. There was something behind the panel, it was just a question of finding the key.

The door was heaving under the relentless pounding of their attackers, it was only a matter of time before the door gave way. A stone came through the window next to it, Cho fired a warning shot out of the window in response, but there was nothing in range.

Jane continued his search for some remote switch and finally noticed a button hidden in one of the carvings. "Open sesame." He said expectantly, and he was rewarded by the sound of a click and the picture panel swung open.

Jane called the others over, they looked suspiciously at the hidden chamber. However the options were limited; they could either have a shoot out or use their wits. Seeing a small window at the side, Jane quietly slid it open, to make it look as if they had escaped that way, before they took refuge in the secret chamber, closing the panel behind them. Jane fumbled to find the light switch, interestingly the light revealed a small staircase leading into the bowels of the earth.

"Maybe it's a portal through to the other side." Cho commented cryptically.

Assuming he was thinking of the spiritual world, Lisbon thought he had said something deep and meaningful.

Jane on the other hand suspected there was a far more practical meaning to his words, and looked at Cho intently. "Go on..."

The unmistakable rumbling of distant engines hummed in the background, Cho shrugged. "It's logical, there has to be a way in and out. If there had been anything on the surface, we'd have found it by now. It makes sense that there would be a subterranean network for storage and transportation."

They followed the stairs down to a locked metal gate, and could make out the sounds of trucks being driven in and unloaded. Although the gate was some distance from the hub of activity, it offered the prospect of access to a secret world. Any other time Jane would have opened the gate in a jiffy, but he concluded now was not the time.

Jane regarded Cho with a new found respect. Who knew he could act that well? "How long have you...?"

"Not long." Cho responded noncomittally.

With a twinkle in his eye Jane looked from Cho to Lisbon "So if I were to say hospital gown, would that mean anything to you?"

Lisbon immediately blushed and Cho's eyes opened a fraction wider, they steadfastly refused to look at each other. Jane gave a self satisfied smile "Aaah that long."

Knowing this was not a viable escape route, they returned to the secret chamber, listening in to the discussions in the chapel. Jane heard a familiar voice barking out instructions and his heart skipped a beat. Surely Dr Joe would know about the secret room. Jane sighed with relief, when they bought Jane's ruse of escaping out of the window. It gave some comfort to Jane, that perhaps Dr Joe may not be as all knowing as they'd first thought and was merely a cog in the machinery.

After a short wait, they released the catch and Cho ventured out first to take a quick look around, followed by Jane and Lisbon.

"Does someone want to tell me what is going on?" Lisbon demanded.

Cho's monotone voice assumed a robotic quality "There's not a big cosmic meaning to it all. We are just the natural progression or evolution of the humanoid state. Our systems are more highly evolved than the human version, which relies on neurons triggering postsynaptic potentials down the line, creating disturbances in the electromagnetic fields. Their consciousness is merely the field component transmitted back to the neurons allowing communication with the outside world."

Jane's eyes popped open in surprise, Cho was a veritable mine of information. Lisbon's jaw dropped open, aghast at his pronouncements, expecting a simple answer to her simple question.

Undaunted Cho continued. "In their simplest form thoughts are electromagnetic representations of neuronal data, and the so called free will is just a subjective reaction of the field acting on neurons. External transcranial stimulation has been proven to affect human brain activity, hence their illogical reactions at times. In contrast our systems, based on semiconductor technology, are highly developed to screen out all the electromagnetic interference that fogs the human thought process. Our superhighway allows a network that can operate at unprecedented speeds computing and processing inputs far more efficiently than our human counterparts."

Jane realised Cho was in danger of blinding them with science, and Lisbon was suffering from information overload. A quick shake of his head sufficed to still Cho. Taking that as his cue to give Jane and Lisbon some space, Cho made an exit on the pretext of doing some reconnaisence.

Knowing they hadn't got much time, Jane pulled Lisbon over to one of the wooden pews. Instinctively she crossed herself in front of the altar and started to mutter a quick prayer in denial of everything that Cho had said.

Jane sighed heavily, this wasn't going to be easy. He reached out and took her hand."Teresa, I know that you believe in the concept of the creator and the one God, whatever you choose to call it."

She nodded earnestly. "God is in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other."

Jane grimaced, this was going to be like telling a child there was no Father Christmas. "Well there may be a God, I can't say one way or another, but he/she is not your God. Not your creator." He paused as she frowned. "Our existence is much more ephemeral, we are just caught in an instant in time, acting out our creator's grand purpose until a new and better model comes along."

Lisbon screwed her face up in confusion.

Jane pressed on."We are not so much the result of procreation as creation. We are the culmination of a process, the output of an overseeing intelligence, but it's not 'God' as you know it.

"You can try and seek some allegory from our situation if it helps, after all we are made in our creator's image to exist in the here and now, we are his instrument to work his purpose on earth, but there is no eternity, we just have to live each day as it comes."

Lisbon clutched her cross, trying to close out his words; they were a denial of everything she believed in. Her faith had been her prop, and to have someone try and knock that away was cruel. She pushed him away like he was some false prophet, but the seriousness of his face made it impossible to ignore what he'd said. There was no artifice about him, he believed what he was saying, whether he was right or wrong. Moreover it gave substance to the doubts that had been beginning to surface in her own mind, as much as she wanted to reject his words they were starting to make sense.

Seeing his words were starting to get through to her, Jane tried to paint a more positive picture. "Look it's not all bad; if we break down they can make a new part. We never get old, never get more wrinkled and grey haired, and besides you can eat what you want – you can drink that full fat latte every day, not just for special occasions. The key is to make the best of life as it is; the challenges are just there to test the model, prove the algorithm. We'll evolve from that, gradually becoming more humanoid as time goes on, who knows maybe one day they will let us out in the real world." Jane didn't spell it out to Lisbon, but he knew their creator could just as easily consign them to hell and damnation at the flick of a switch.

He reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb pad. "I'm sorry Teresa, I really wish I didn't have to tell you."

She sniffed. "It's ok, I knew something was wrong. It was just easier to ignore it, but if we're so perfect why do we make mistakes? Logically we should know the answer to everything."

"They're trying to simulate the imperfections of the human condition, algorithms are tailored to mimic human frailties, so eventually the likes of us can mingle undetected in the outside world. After all who likes a smart Alec?" His eyes twinkled at the irony of that statement.

Lisbon gave a watery smile. "But where does that leave us now?"

"We carry on as if nothing has changed and see where it all leads - firstly we have a game to win. Just remember there are eyes and ears everywhere, as a general rule whenever we are within range it is better to communicate telepathically."

She looked round anxiously for cameras and silently interrogated him. "What about just now?"

He shook his head ."They weren't expecting us here, no one will be listening."

Lisbon stood up and resolutely brushed herself down at the sound of Cho returning. Cho gave her a quick glance to check everything was alright, he was further reassured by Jane nodding in the background. "The dust cloud shows them making their way back to the town. They taken our horses with them, I'm afraid we're on foot."

* * *

Slowly they made their way over the arid landscape, with Lisbon cursing as her dress got caught on the thorny bushes. She was glad of her long sleeves and rolled them down to keep warm, although the thin material offered scant protection as the temperature plummeted with the lack of cloud cover. As dusk descended the lights in the distance made it easier to navigate, although perversely it took away any feeling of perspective or distance, and they seemed to be wandering aimlessly at times.

Cho was built to walk for ever, and Lisbon's determination made up for her physical attributes, predictably it was Jane who started to whinge at the first onset of physical discomfort.

"I thought you said this wasn't real." Lisbon snarked.

"My pain is real Lisbon. Do you want to see it?" Jane responded theatrically, the blisters due to the ill fitting boots hurt more with every step. Lisbon rolled her eyes unsympathetically, honestly he was such a diva.

Pre-occupied with their own thoughts for much of the journey, they had given little thought to what would happen when they reached the town. Unlike the opposing team, who on discovering that the CBI team hadn't made it back yet, had set up lookouts at either end of the main street.

Although they had walked pretty much in silence for the last couple of miles, apart from the odd word of encouragement, or curse whenever one of them other stumbled in the semi darkness, their silhouettes stood out against the sunset and had heralded their approach.

As a precautionary measure they'd kept off the main track as they approached the town, intending to cut across to the town at the last minute; they were totally unprepared for the ambush. Out of nowhere Dr Joe appeared in front of them, dressed in his Sherriff's outfit, his badge catching the last remnants of light. He was flanked on either side by his girls, who were clad in skin tight jeans with cowboy boots, topped off by tasselled shirts.

Lorelei smiled lasciviously at Jane. "Hello lover."

The words jarred and Jane started in surprise, Lisbon's head shot round disbelievingly. He was more than ever convinced that his dream had been planted to mess with his head. Before they could reach for their paint guns, they saw the glint of the Sheriff's revolver in his hand, he was playing to win at any cost.

"Just hand it over Patrick." He drawled, not wasting any time on conversation.

"Or what?" Jane's bravado was a front, he knew full well they'd been outwitted.

"Or..this" The Sherriff suddenly grabbed Lisbon by her now loose hair, twisting it round his hand, causing her to yelp as he pulled her over. He held the gun under Lisbon's chin and stared Jane out.

"Just give it to him." Cho knew when they were beaten.

The girls circled Jane and Cho like predators, Jane winced when their wandering hands ventured to his pockets, not being fussy what they felt. Angrily he brushed their hands aside feeling violated, and he reached into his waistcoat pocket to reveal the prized golden nugget. Unwilling to concede graciously, he flung the prize at the Sheriff's feet.

In his haste to collect his prize the Sherriff dropped his guard and let go of Lisbon. It didn't escape Jane's eyes that Lisbon's hands swiftly fumbled under her skirts before emerging gun in hand. The first the Sheriff knew was when he heard the sound of a gun cocking by his ear.

"Now Agent Lisbon that's not playing by the rules." There was more than a trace of irritation to his voice.

"You ripped up the rulebook." She retorted, and then nodded to Cho. "Cuff him."

Cho used the Sherriff's own cuffs to restrain him, leaving Lisbon free to search the girls for hidden weapons. Satisfied that their captives could do no further harm, they proceeded to make their way back to the town. Jane hesitated just before they arrived. "Just wait here while I file the claim, then let them go. There's no need to rub it in, the game is over now." Jane was wary it would backfire on them in the long term, if Dr Joe was made to look a fool. Accepting the wisdom of his words, they waited in the shadows until Jane emerged paper in hand, denoting their victory.

On his release the Sheriff regarded his captors through narrowed eyes."You've made a big mistake Agent Lisbon. You're very much in my thoughts, and I'll be watching your every move from now on."

* * *

Reunited, the team celebrated with a few drinks that night, there was no sign of the opposition who had beaten a hasty retreat, unwilling to suffer the ignominy of facing their conquerors. Van Pelt and Rigsby, who had been making eyes at each other all night, made their excuses within five minutes of each other, as if that fooled anyone. Feeling a bit like the third wheel, Cho followed suit not long after, leaving Jane and Lisbon sampling the midnight air as they contemplated the day's events. There was an unspoken tension between them, inadvertently they bumped into each other when they turned at the same time and they ended up face to face. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, neither was able to break eye contact.

Jane swallowed deeply and lifted his hand to gently stroke the side of her face, before tipping her chin up and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. "I wish for all the world that we could cast caution to the wind, but you know we can't."

She nodded accepting the wisdom of his words, but she couldn't help herself. "You said we have to live for the here and now - if not here and now, when?"

Jane frowned as he looked down; it would be so easy to give into temptation, but he had started to formulate a plan that required his utmost concentration. He couldn't afford any diversions. With a sad smile he stroked her back. "Our time will come Lisbon – it won't be long now." Bitterly he added to himself, either that or we'll die in the process. After one last kiss he turned her around, and arm in arm they made their way back to their rooms.

"You should wear a dress more often, they suit you." He teased.

"What this old thing?" She looked down at her dishevelled attire in disgust, she'd felt decidedly off kilter from the moment she'd put it on. Her eyes narrowed accusingly. "Was this your doing?"

"Not guilty, but I couldn't have chosen better myself. Especially those rather fetching bloomers - I'd always wondered what a girl kept hidden in her box of tricks." He added with a twinkle in his eye, correctly guessing where her gun had been secreted.

"That's for me to know." She quipped, looking over her shoulder archly, before she shut her door firmly. She lay back heavily against the closed door for a few moments, with her eyes closed as she inhaled deeply.

Despite Jane's words, Lisbon wasn't ready to let go of her faith completely, and before long she was dutifully offering a prayer to whoever would listen, comforting herself that if her creator had a creator, there was nothing to stop him being her God as well.

Jane settled down to mull over the germ of a plan, but managed to put aside time for an interlude in dreamland with a certain pert agent. A man could still dream after all...


	8. Chapter 8 : Stand By Your Man

**Chapter 8 : Stand by your man**

A slight grimace was replaced by a forced smile, when the over attentive waitress gave him a come-hither look as she placed the teapot on the table. Jane avoided holding her gaze for too long, as she'd been making her interest in him all too apparent from the moment he came in. As if he needed any more complications. The situation with Lisbon was hard enough to deal with after they'd let their guards slip at Percy. It was obvious that she was willing to move forward, and God knew it was tempting, but Jane knew that it would be tantamount to painting a target on her back, if they took matters further. It was better to risk hurting her feelings now, rather than let her be used as a pawn in Dr Joe's game.

Needless to say, Lisbon's hurt soon transmuted into resentment, and she fell back on sarcasm in her attempts to disguise her feelings. As if she was kidding anyone! Everyone was gunning for Jane, naturally assuming he was the transgressor. Loyal to Lisbon to a fault, they barely hid their disdain for the consultant. Jane just gritted his teeth, so be it, if news got around that there was disquiet in the ranks all the better.

In the meantime, Lisbon had sought to fill her emotional needs by taking refuge in her church. The silver haired priest had a wonderful way with words, and controlled his flock with a steely resolve, to the extent that everything seemed to revolve more around him as a figurehead, than about his teachings at times. However, it couldn't be denied that rather than letting Lisbon wallow in self pity, the priest had reinvigorated her and encouraged her to be the best version of herself. Within no time she was back to her brusque, no nonsense best, dealing with Jane on a professional basis as if nothing had happened. The rest of the team weren't quite so forgiving, and a degree of animus lingered on towards Jane.

Perversely Jane was strangely conflicted by it all; it wasn't that he wanted her to moon around like some lovelorn teenager, but nevertheless part of him was slightly put out by the apparent ease with which Lisbon had put it all behind her.

His thought train was interrupted by the thud of someone taking up the seat in the booth directly behind. After a momentary glance up, Jane turned his attentions back to his book with a smile. Abbott had been a bit heavy handed with the cologne today, Jane knew it wasn't for his benefit, and wondered who was the object of his affections.

"Double espresso please." Abbott waved away the menu, he had no time to eat. Getting straight down to business he locked minds with Jane as they sat back to back, apparently deep in their own thoughts. "No Lisbon?"

"No, she's having some personal time, getting in touch with her spiritual side." Jane added wryly.

"Spiritual? I thought you'd had the conversation with her - surely she must understand by know?" Abbott frowned, mildly disconcerted that perhaps something new was being trialed without his knowledge.

"I have but, you can't refute faith with logic. She has an ingrained belief in some higher power, and as much as I've tried to rationalise it, she just rails against the idea. Apparently, her maker's God is her God, and we're all just instruments God." Jane was resigned to failure on that score, Lisbon's faith was deeply entrenched and she defended it with vigour.

Abbott gave a low chuckle. "Well from what I heard, maybe she's got something to confess."

Jane sighed heavily. "And what exactly have you heard? As if I need to ask."

"According to the office scuttlebutt you and Lisbon seemed mighty close in Percy." Abbott teased, knowing full well it was a touchy subject.

Jane exhaled wearily as he turned a page."Take it from me Dennis, nothing happened."

"You know it's alright if you want to. Everything's in full working order." Abbott added encouragingly.

"So, I recall Dennis, but it's a bit late to start talking about the birds and the bees at this stage. Besides neither of us needs the distraction, there are far more serious issues to consider."

"Just saying Patrick, everyone's doing it." Abbott raised his espresso cup to his lips, savouring the aroma of the bitter blend before taking a sip.

"That's as maybe, but not everyone is being targeted by Dr Joe. I know he's just one of us, but I'm damned if I know why he's so obsessed with me. What do you know about him Dennis?"

Abbott chose his words carefully."You're the Gemini model. He feels threatened."

"Why should he see me as a threat..." Jane stopped as the realisation dawned. "We're twins?"

"Kind of, but not identical. You come from the same blueprint, so technically your capabilities are matched, even if you're wired differently. It's natural he views you with some suspicion; he's worried about being usurped." Abbott had been worried for some time about how far Dr Joe was prepared to go to defend his position. He'd always assumed there would be some outside intervention if things got out of hand, but the powers that be seemed content to let matters play out, letting the protagonists evolve their behaviour to meet the changing situation.

"So exactly how many models are there?" Jane was fascinated by the idea of some organised hierarchy.

"Hard to say exactly, there are the basic models for the routine stuff, then a few specialist models with particular skill sets. It's like any setup, you need a mix of abilities to work efficiently."

"So, we're just actors playing our allotted parts, just trying to make the best of a lousy script. It's hardly Utopia." Jane grumbled

"It's not Dystopia either, so we may as well make the best of it." Abbott was unusually abrupt.

"So, what's the endgame Dennis? Who's in charge?"

Abbott shuffled uncomfortably."I don't rightly know."

"Come on Dennis you know everything - is it government or some corporation?"

"Patrick, I've been trying to find out for ages, but one false move and I'll be put out to grass." Abbott was starting to get irritated now, and drained his cup clinking it down noisily in his saucer.

Undaunted Jane was determined to learn more."So does anyone ever mix with the outsiders - what are they really like?"

"What is this twenty questions? Look, only the worker drones that fetch and carry parts ever have direct contact with them, apart from that it's all done by video links." Abbott could not help but notice the pregnant pause. "Patrick whatever you're thinking no good will come of it."

Before Jane could delve deeper, Abbott was saved by an incoming call."Hey sugar. I've got everything under control, just you get yourself ready babe."

Jane rolled his eyes in exasperation, here he was trying to do something life changing and Abbott was more interested in his love life.

"Guess you haven't you heard about the wife - perk of the job. You know you really should cut yourself some slack on that front Patrick. All work and no play, no wonder you're cranky."

"How many times do I have to say this Dennis, I am not putting a target on Lisbon's back. Besides I have other things on my mind right now." Fortunately, Jane was granted a reprieve, when Abbott suddenly went quiet at the sight of an attractive woman, with tumbling auburn curls, entering the diner.

Abbott emitted a low whistle."Well I'll be damned, I thought she'd been decommissioned."

Jane strained to see who Abbott was talking about. "I've seen her before."

"Keep away from that one Patrick. She used to be very close to Dr Joe then something happened, she overstretched herself and she disappeared for a while. Mark my words, if she's back on the scene, it's because Dr Joe wants her around. Be very careful Patrick, she's almost as good as you at reading people."

Abbott's phoned beeped again."Anyhow got to go, date night." With that he jumped up with a spring in his step, giving the newcomer a wide berth as he made his way out.

Jane bided his time until the newcomer was settled, he noticed her looking over in his direction, barely bothering to disguise her interest. With a smirk on his face, Jane left a tip on the table, refusing to acknowledge the interest. They'd have to work harder than that if they wanted to reel him in.

* * *

Van Pelt was admiring the new age crystal on Lisbon's desk, she held it with a reverence as if it were emanating some mystic power. Lisbon just laughed it off, knowing how gullible Van Pelt could be on such matters. Her new friend Kristina had given it to her, claiming it had healing powers. Although Lisbon didn't believe in all that hocus pocus, she was touched by thought behind the gift, which was might pretty if nothing else.

They'd met at a charity function initially, and then met up for drinks a few times. Lisbon was amused by Kristina's antics, she was shameless at times, but it was hard to credit how impressionable some people were. Although Lisbon felt some lingering unease at how readily Kristina would turn any situation to her pecuniary advantage, she tried to turn a blind eye to it. Lisbon had few friends outside of work and couldn't afford to be too judgemental.

Lisbon made a point of distancing herself from Kristina's professional appearances, knowing deep down that she wouldn't be able to ignore Kristina's cynicism if she witnessed it firsthand. However, Kristina had been getting increasingly insistent about Lisbon coming to one of her gatherings, and Jane overheard Lisbon confide in Van Pelt, that she was trying to find a way of getting out of the latest event without causing offence.

Jane was already aware that Kristina was acquainted with Lisbon, having spotted them hanging out at the coffee stall. At first, he'd assumed it was just a casual acquaintance, but it soon became clear they were now bosom buddies. He hadn't forgotten Abbott's warning, so he made a point of listening in whenever Kristina's name was mentioned. From what he'd gleaned there was a gathering at the old chapel tonight, some sort of new age festival.

"You should go, you'd have fun." Jane piped up from the background. The women cast him a withering look, at his blatant ear wigging. He just shrugged it off. "Whatever. I just thought Lisbon deserved a night out."

Whether Lisbon went or not, this gave Jane an excuse to kill two birds with one stone. He could check out what Kristina was up to from a distance, but more importantly it gave him a viable excuse to return to the old chapel.

Jane desperately wanted to explore the delivery bay they'd discovered, he was obsessed with the outsiders and was just itching to find out if they were really that different from them.

By now he was pretty adept at reading most of his day to day acquaintances, almost unknowingly they would drop their guard in his presence. Some like Cho naturally fell in with silent communication, although Jane never got more out of Cho than he wanted to reveal - his thoughts were as guarded as his tongue. Rigsby was the opposite, open the floodgates and you were deluged by a tsunami of unsolicited information. Jane was still circumspect around Grace, not wanting to give too much away about his newly acquired skill set, for fear of it getting back to Dr Joe.

* * *

It looked as if the chapel was just being used for a meet and greet session, with the main event taking place outdoors. The outside venue was festooned with lights and pagan symbolism, hardly appropriate for a chapel of any persuasion. The area was being meticulously set up, with fire braziers dotted around the periphery. No doubt Kristina was a stickler for detail and knew every trick in the book. Jane was looking forward to catching up on the performance later, but first he had more important things to attend to.

Jane snuck inside, and was relieved to note some presentation boards had handily been placed in front of the secret door. Without further ado Jane made his way through the secret entrance, and after picking the lock on the gate with ease, he tentatively stepped out into the basement, keeping to the shadows as he slowly made his way forward to observe proceedings.

It was late afternoon by now and Jane guessed they would be packing up for the day soon, so there was no time to waste. In the distance, he saw some blue uniformed workers pushing sack trucks towards the vehicle in the loading bay. Uniform in build and devoid of hair, the workers reminded Jane of mannequins. Out of the gloom a well-padded individual emerged, stomach bulging over the waistband of his sagging jeans. Instructions were barked out to the workers, with no regard to the niceties, as if they weren't worth wasting his breath on. A slimmer figure emerged, noisily chewing gum before spitting it out without any regard for the surroundings. He conferred with the other figure, and they shared a private joke while they watched the workers loading the cargo.

As if drawn by a magnet, Jane felt an irresistible urge to get closer and slowly edged his way forward, to get a closer look at the outsiders. At first sight, they looked no different from anyone else, their imperfections were perhaps more exaggerated than in Jane's reality, where symmetry and a degree of physical fitness were the norm.

Jane felt a burning desire to investigate further, he had to make contact with these outsiders just once. Unlike the workers, Jane knew he looked human in all respects, so he picked up some papers from a nearby rack and purposefully made his way over to the truckers. "Ah glad to catch you. I'm Bill Rooney, your new regional manager. I'm just trying to get a feel of how this operation works."

The two truckers eyed him with suspicion, but his confident air of authority soon paid dividends.

"Red Maloney's the name, but I don't know about no visits." The larger man responded.

"Spot checks, by their nature they're unannounced. Now just talk me through what happens here."

Jane was relieved that they really hadn't picked up on him being different, and they talked him through the procedure for docking vehicles, detailing security protocols and contacts at their depot. Another pair of workers approached with the final consignment to load on the truck.

Red laughed conspiratorially."You wouldn't believe they weren't real to look at them, but they're just programmed to do one thing. Here look." Red leaned forward and shouted boo right in the one worker's face. There was absolutely no reaction, the worker never flinched from its task. The truckers fell around laughing, clearly thinking baiting the staff was a perk of the job. Jane forced a smile to fit in, though he was inwardly seething, he had his own opinion on which was the lower form of intelligence.

It was impossible to read the truckers, their minds were on a different wavelength to Jane's thought processes, however he was gratified to note that their body language was easy enough to interpret. Given time he was convinced that he could adapt his skills accordingly. For now, he fell back on flimflammery to keep them talking, revealing exactly how the operations worked.

After asking to see the inventory, Jane stepped onto the back of the truck, allegedly to make some random checks. The coffin shaped boxes left him in no doubt what was being shipped. The inventory made interesting reading as the models were designated according to use - hospitality, domestic and a Geisha model, his stomach turned at that thought. The delivery addresses were varied, suggesting that this was more a commercial enterprise than a government sponsored one. He flicked his way through the manifests scanning and memorising each page in turn, more importantly he now knew the name of the organisation running it all, the Genesis Corporation.

Having ascertained the layout and exits to the docking bay it was time to return, the last thing he wanted to do was to raise alarms just yet. Jane tentatively opened the door back into the chapel to make sure the coast was clear. No sooner had he closed the doors behind him, then two men came back indoors, all he could do was take shelter behind the screens.

The two figures approached deep in conversation, Jane heard the younger one say. "I hear she's got a real extravaganza planned for tonight, bonfire and all."

"She certainly knows how to wrap these suckers round her little finger. Apparently, there's a special guest coming tonight and she wants everything organised well in advance." A deeper voice responded. "Doesn't pay to ask too many questions, that woman spells danger."

To Jane's alarm they approached the screens, to get to the boxes hidden from view. "Hello, what have we got here? We've found ourselves a spy, maybe this is the one she was expecting." They got hold of Jane by the collar, and unceremoniously dragged him outside ignoring his protestations of innocence.

By now the assembled throng had congregated outside, where Kristina was addressing them from a raised podium. The light was fading fast and her words rang out all around them. "Behold there is magic all around you. The spirits are in the air around you, and in every breath of life within you. They are the wind blowing through you, that fans the fires around you and the flame burning within you." On cue, the pyrotechnics sent out well choreographed bursts to ignite the braziers to illustrate her point.

"Who will follow me? I am the conduit to the spirits they communicate through me. Let me be your guide, as you dance to the tune of the divine spirits."

Her white robes flowed around her as she raised her arms up to the heavens in the encroaching gloom. The uplighting served to cast an eerie glow upon her face that rendered her magnificent, with her tumbling red locks and flashing eyes she seemed totally at one with the spirits, almost a divinity in her own right. She cast her eyes back down to the gathering, her voice now deep and commanding, as if possessed by the spirits. "Who will follow me?"

As one the gathering responded, "We will."

Lisbon hung back in the background, increasingly disturbed by the way this was going. The sweet smell of some narcotic hung in the air, no doubt released from the braziers, it lowered the resistance of the already suggestible gathering. What Kristina was advocating was very different from their chats, this was radical and at odds with Lisbon's faith. It wouldn't take much for this to get out of control, as Kristina worked the gathering up to a frenzy. Lisbon began to sense that she had been lured here for some purpose and was feeling increasingly uneasy. Kristina had clearly been using her.

Suddenly Kristina stopped when she saw her men emerge with Jane, one of them came over and whispered to her and a slow twisted smile appeared on her lips. She nodded for Jane to be brought forward, he stumbled at the sharp push in the back that brought him just below where Kristina was standing.

"My friends it appears we have a sceptic in our midst, a spy, a traitor. He is the snake in the garden, who wants to corrupt our little corner of Eden. Listen not to his weasel words lest you taste the forbidden fruit."

Jane rolled his eyes in disbelief at the ludicrous allegory, having missed the larger part of Kristina's performance, he didn't appreciate quite how febrile the atmosphere was. He tried to speak out but was drowned out by Kristina's voice, with the advantage of a hidden microphone and advanced sound system Kristina's voice rang out loud and clear.

"Enough Satan! You shall not poison our minds, let the serpent be cleansed from our paradise. By the powers invested in me as the earthly manifestation of the spirits, I ask you what shall we do with the serpent?"

"Kill him!" A cry went up from the crowd.

Kristina pretended to look shocked. "Kill him? Is that what the spirits are telling you?"

"Kill the serpent." The cries echoed around.

Frye stepped down from her podium, and started to circle Jane wafting her robes in his face, smiling whenever she looked him in the face. "No, that's not for us to decide. Let the spirits decide!" She ran her hands over him as she circled him, smiling as he flinched at her touch, pulling away from her as she slid her hands down his torso.

Lisbon's had heard enough now serpents and spirits, what on earth was she talking about? She glared at Jane wondering what on earth the damned fool done this time. Realising she couldn't cope with the situation by herself, she retreated to the gloom to text Cho for reinforcements, before things got completely out of hand.

Kristina was back in full flow. "Shhhh...the spirits are talking." She raised a hand to her ear."They're satisfied he's the embodiment of the corrupt state, who came here spying of his own volition, and if I'm not mistaken despite his bravado, he's unsullied by a woman's charms. He meets all their requirements."

Lisbon looked questioningly at him. He just shrugged a shoulder as he returned her stare. He could barely stop himself from giggling, it was so ludicrous it had got to be a joke surely?

He was soon to be disillusioned on that score, when one of Kristina's henchmen dragged him over to a post, and tied him to it. When Jane tried to talk he was unceremoniously gagged by the henchman, who hissed under his breath."Don't worry you can have your say when the spirits have passed their judgement, we want to hear you crying out for mercy."

Kristina flashed her eyes at him with an ominous look on her face, and Jane's heart began to sink. To make matters worse a hooded man broke through the ranks and started placing twigs and branches in a pile around Jane's feet. When he slipped behind Jane, he surreptitiously dropped something in each of Jane's jacket pockets. The ties on his Jane's wrists and ankles were pulled tight for good measure no amount of struggling would make any difference.

Jane's head shot round to look at Lisbon, finally realising what they had planned. He recognised the garlicky smell of white phosphorus, a basic tool of every magician and trickster. It might take a while, but by time Kristina had invoked the spirits, the chances were that it would spontaneously combust. In itself, it may not do much harm, but it would be taken as the sign from the spirits. The recent dry spell had left everything tinder dry, and it wouldn't take much for fire to take hold. The blazing torch of the hooded man loomed ominously close, as they awaited the spirits response. Robbed of his voice he has no means to break Kristina's spell, Lisbon was his only hope. "Lisbon whenever you're ready. Anytime now will do." He looked imploringly in her direction, his eyes wide as saucers now.

Kristina wafted her billowing sleeves, lifting her arms theatrically to the skies. "Let the spirits decide, I invoke them to send us a message, only fire can purify the serpent's soul."

A circle formed around Jane as they linked hands, slowly repeating their incantation working themselves up to fever pitch. Kristina paused for attention."The decision is with the spirits we must obey the spirits, only they can decide his fate."

"Lisbon what the hell's keeping you? They mean business." Jane's eyes bored into her.

"I know, I'm thinking." Lisbon responded irritably, as she weighed her options up.

"Well think quicker, if you take much longer I'll be toast." Lisbon didn't miss the very real panic in Jane's voice.

"Don't be so overdramatic." Lisbon snapped back.

"It's not you about to be well done on both sides. Surely, you've got a gun on you, can't you just wave it around a bit?"

"Patience! I've called for reinforcements, I want to hang on as long as possible, we're seriously outnumbered."Lisbon really didn't want to risk antagonising the gathering further and making matters worse.

"There's no time to waste Lisbon, I'm telling you the system is rigged. Once they've had their sign, there'll be no stopping them."

"Alright, if you insist!" Lisbon rolled her eyes before stepping forward. "Stop! You cannot sacrifice this man, he is impure and will not satisfy the spirit's needs. I can vouch this man has tasted the forbidden fruit."

Jane's face screwed up in incredulity - seriously that was the best she could come up with?

Kristina whirled round angrily to face her, her eyes flashing. "And how could you possibly know that?"

Lisbon strode to the center of the circle to stand alongside Jane. "Because I partook of the fruit with him."

"We only have your word for that, besides it's too late now the spirits have been invoked." Kristina once more led the gathering in a chant. "Spirits guide us with your eternal flame."

Although the limited air in Jane's pockets had inhibited ignition, slowing down the process more than Kristina anticipated, she knew it was only a matter of time before the material would combust.

Jane locked minds with Lisbon, "My pockets, empty my pockets Lisbon."

Lisbon backed as close as she could get to Jane, but Kristina had read their unguarded thoughts and warned the hooded man. The game was up, there was only one thing Lisbon could do now, she fired a shot into the air.

The sharp retort seemed to bring a few out of their drug induced frenzy, but the rest of the crowd started to close in on them menacingly. Lisbon lowered her gun aiming directly at Kristina's heart. "It may not be a silver bullet, but it will serve its purpose. Now back off everyone, or the witch gets it."

The sound of a twig breaking behind them, made Lisbon lose her concentration momentarily, allowing Kristina to launch herself at Lisbon. The gun went off in the struggle and Kristina recoiled back with a look of surprise on her face, as she clutched her chest. "Looks like the spirits won't be denied after all." Lisbon acerbically commented, as she watched Kristina fall to the floor. Lisbon flinched when she felt someone silently come alongside her, she readied herself for action.

"It ok Boss it's me." She sighed with relief at the sound of Cho's voice.

"Better late than never. The pair by the van are her accomplices, don't let them get away." The spell had been broken and the gathering swiftly dispersed, everything was under control now and Lisbon was only interested in rounding up the ringleaders.

Lisbon looked down at Kristina laid out on the floor, both dangerous and beautiful. How easy it was to pervert suggestible people, a few minutes later and these people would have been complicit in murder most foul.

Van Pelt removed the gag from Jane, but Cho called her away leaving Jane still tied to the post, while they apprehended Kristina's henchmen. In truth, everyone was still a bit annoyed with Jane and took a perverse pleasure in listening to his bleating. "Lisbon this is beyond a joke, I can hear some crackling, I'm on fire." The smoke emanating from his pockets, confirmed his fears.

Sheep-dip, he really was! Lisbon rushed over and tried to undo him, but the ties wouldn't budge and she called out to Cho and Rigsby for help. Ever resourceful Cho whipped out his Swiss army knife and quickly worked through the wrist straps while Rigsby worked on the ankle ones.

"Out of the way" Lisbon shouted, before throwing a bucket of cold water over Jane, who just stared at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"Precautionary measure." She muttered, before turning away to hide her smile at the look of surprise on the drenched consultant's face. He hadn't seen that coming.

They quickly removed his jacket and threw it on the floor, and Jane watched on in dismay as it continued to smoulder despite the deluge. "That was my favourite jacket."

"Oh man up, it's just a jacket." Lisbon retorted as she walked to the car.

"It had a pure silk lining, it was handmade..." Jane shook his head regretfully.

Rigsby passed the smouldering remains to Jane with a grin. "You want fries with that?"

Cho's eyes wrinkled with amusement, the consultant had annoyed them all the last few days and a bit of payback was well overdue. Still enough was enough. Cho threw Jane a dry T-shirt to put on, and suggested they all stop at a bar for a calming drink on the way back.

Lisbon and Van Pelt kept sneaking looks at this buff version of Jane, with untamed hair, and the snug fitting T-shirt revealing a surprisingly well toned torso.

Rigsby conferred with Cho then meandered over to the juke box, with a cheesy grin plastered all over his face. Lisbon wrinkled her nose in distaste, instantly recognising the twanging introduction of the old classic, she blushed profusely in anticipation of what was coming.

 _Sometimes it's hard to be a woman  
Giving all your love to just one man.  
You'll have bad times  
And he'll have good times,  
Doin' things that you don't understand  
But if you love him you'll forgive him,  
Even though he's hard to understand..._

Jane had just screwed his eyes up, before venturing to peep out through one eye in as the lyrics started.

"Oh, very funny! By the way you and Cho are on night shift this weekend and for the foreseeable future." Lisbon wagged her finger at giggling duo.

She finally dared to look in Jane's direction, he was leaning back in his chair, with his elbow on the arm and the back of his hand covering his lips, but he couldn't disguise his smiling eyes. She glared at him in mock fierceness, the message came through loud and clear. " _Honestly you're impossible_!" Unable to keep her anger up any longer, her mirth spilled over and they both collapsed in a fit of giggles at the sheer stupidity of it all.

They may be friends again, but Lisbon had learned her lesson. She wasn't going to risk lowering her guard again until she was absolutely sure that the feelings were reciprocated. Not wishing to be in a potentially awkward situation with Jane, she drove Van Pelt home, leaving the guys to shoot the breeze some more.

* * *

The next day Jane waited in the usual place, Abbott didn't bother to disguise his smirk when he met Jane's eyes. "I told you should have taken your chance when you could. Of course, technically you weren't a ..."

"That's quite enough of that thank you. Anyhow that line of defence is well and truly blown now." Jane responded grumpily, Lisbon was well and truly in the crosshairs after that.

"Well you've only got yourself to blame, I did warn you about Frye." For once Abbott sat directly opposite, relishing seeing Jane's discomfiture.

"I only meant to observe from a distance, but it was as if Frye knew I was coming. Anyhow my real reason for being there was something completely different. What do you know about Genesis?" Jane scanned Abbott's face for a reaction.

"As in the bible?" Abbott clearly was in the dark.

"No as in the corporation that created us." Jane said quietly.

Abbott sat up sharply. "How do you know that?"

Jane leaned forward conspiratorially. "I met some of them today Dennis, they didn't have a clue who I was. We could pass in their world without anyone knowing any different."

"What the hell have you done Patrick?" Abbott looked round anxiously, wishing he'd taken the usual precaution.

"I'm working on a plan Dennis, but I need to be able to access the internet without any trace - can you help me? I'm not sure whether Van Pelt can be trusted or is still compromised." Jane confided.

The sound of the door opening caught their attention. Shoot, it was Lisbon. She placed her order on the way to the table. "So, this is where the big boys meet to make their plans?" She snarked before nudging Jane. "Scoot over. If you want me to bail you out of your next half-baked scheme, perhaps you'd better fill me in on what going on."

Abbott rose with a smile and left a tip for the waitress. "Over to you Patrick. We'll talk again soon." He nodded appreciatively in Lisbon's direction, acknowledging her role in keeping Jane's feet on the ground.

Lisbon reached for the menu when the waitress brought her coffee over. "I think this is going to take some time." She rattled off her breakfast order then jerked her head in Jane's direction. "Put it on his tab he owes me one."

She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Well?"

Trapped in the booth there was no escape, Jane shook his head with a half smile. "You're a hard woman Agent Lisbon."

"Hard! You don't know what hard means. Can you imagine the paperwork I'd have had to fill in if it had all gone wrong? Honestly, you have no idea how worried I was, it takes ages to train up a new consultant."

Jane seriously contemplated crawling under the table to make his escape, fearing this homily was going to go on and on."You were worried!? Next time you try being the burnt offerings."

"Serves you right for interfering." No sympathy was forthcoming. They fell back into the playful bickering of old.

"Don't you even want to know what I was doing?"

"Apart from being a pain in the neck?"

"Yes, apart from that Lisbon. Look this isn't the right place, but when you've finished your breakfast we'll go for a quiet drive and I'll tell you what I've found out."

Jane screwed his nose up distastefully, as the waitress put down the greasy platter in front of Lisbon.

She looked at him defiantly "What? You think I'm going to eat a dry muffin, if the end of the world is nigh."

Jane couldn't argue with that and slid a speculative finger over to her plate to purloin some fries. "In that case. Ouch! What did you do that for?"

"Get your own. This one's mine buster."

Jane shrugged and ordered some eggs, after all Lisbon had a point.

* * *

A/N For my sins I can't get that damned song out of my head now!


	9. Chapter 9 : Counting Out Time

**Chapter 9 : Counting Out Time**

High handed and arrogant, there was an air invincibility to Tommy Volker as he brushed aside Lisbon's questions with the ease. His disdain for her line of questioning was palpable, when she brought up the subject of Connie Ling, a civil rights attorney, who had died in mysterious circumstances, while investigating his business dealings.

Volker ran his hand through his luxuriant mane, holding his head high in the manner of someone used to being the centre of attention. His obvious sense of entitlement was pushing Lisbon's buttons, and she made the rookie mistake of letting her irritation show. She knew her momentary lapse had given him the upper hand, but using a technique Jane had taught her, she composed herself before trying a different angle.

"Mr Volker, it can hardly be coincidence that Connie Ling's online presence was mysteriously taken offline before her murder was even made public. Isn't it true that you hold a major shareholding in the media platform?"

A slight tensing of his facial muscles gave him away, before he broke out into one of those practised smiles that doesn't quite extend to the eyes. "Well Miss er ..Lisbon." He affected not to remember her name and peered closely at her press accreditation "I really do admire your dedication, but we are here to discuss a major business opportunity that will create hundreds of skilled jobs for hard working Americans. We aren't here to humour the hysterical rantings of some attention seeking newsreader, who can't even write her own script."

There was a murmur of approval from the assembled throng, who resented their meeting being hijacked by some interloper. Volker had swatted her aside like an annoying fly, as if she were a mere autocutie incapable of having an original thought, despite her reputation as a cutting-edge journalist.

As if from nowhere, two suits appeared either side of her and ushered her out of the conference room. She resisted the urge to shout out further questions, not wanting to validate his hysterical accusation.

Lisbon stomped into the newsroom office, and stood with her hands planted on her hips, just daring anyone to say something. Naturally the news clip had gone viral before she'd returned to base, with rival organisations relishing the opportunity to score points off the network.

In an environment as competitive as a news organisation, there was much hilarity among the male fraternity. In particular Bosco the food critic had crossed swords with Lisbon on many occasions over his assumed superiority, and he wasn't going to pass over the opportunity for some payback. "Well, you were served up nicely, not too well done just nicely crisp round the edges."

"Oh, go bake a cake!" Lisbon snarled.

Bosco's shirt strained at the buttons as he puffed his chest out in indignation. "You know your problem is that you've got no respect for anyone, perhaps some humble pie would be in order occasionally?"

"By the look of your shirt you've already eaten all the pies, so that's hardly likely." Lisbon was in no mood to take any crap off anyone.

"Go easy on the sauce Lisbon, it leaves a bitter taste." Bosco cast a supercilious look in her direction.

"Oh, go to …. Oh, hello Brenda." Lisbon stopped herself just in time as the managing editor entered the newsroom.

Brenda breezed imperiously passed Lisbon, not even bothering to acknowledge her until she was seated. She ran a critical eye over Lisbon and pursed her thin lips disapprovingly. "If you're going to gate crash the great and good in the name of the network, the least you can do is present yourself properly. Just look at the state of you. No wonder nobody took you seriously. Jeans and leather jackets are hardly de rigueur in civilised company. Anyhow, Volker's attorneys have made overtures and it's all about damage limitation now, so you need to cool it for a few days. In the meantime, I've made you an appointment with my stylist, and for goodness sake do something with those shoes."

Lisbon looked down defensively, they were a good pair of loafers. "But they're comfortable."

Brenda shook her head despairingly, "Have you ever considered radio? You have a good face for radio."

Lisbon scowled. "I'm a serious journalist not a mannequin."

"You can say that my dear. Either smarten up or get out. Just look at Patrick, you'd never see him with so much as a hair out of place. As for that hairstyle it's so retro darling, maybe a touch up of the roots and a shorter cut would take a few years off you. Anyhow Eduardo is expecting you at 4 o'clock." She shook her head and sighed. "And don't be late, I imagine it's going to take him quite a while." Brenda swept out leaving Lisbon standing awkwardly in the middle of the room with her hands stuck in her pockets.

The others did their best to ignore her, sensing she was spoiling for a fight. Finally, Lisbon's beady eye settled on Patrick Jane, who was settled in his oversized executive chair. The network talk show host was the epitome of smooth, he had everything going for him, good looks, charm and the ability to twist anyone round his little finger. With his shiny blue suit and perfect grooming, he was undeniably telegenic.

Lisbon swept a rebellious streak of hair behind her ear as she trudged over to her desk, which was next to his.

With zen like calm, Jane affected to ignore her glowering presence, but was finally undone by a fleeting smirk of amusement when she huffed dramatically.

"Find it amusing, do you?" Lisbon glared belligerently at him.

Jane's lips twitched mischievously. Without averting his eyes from his script, he responded with a measured calmness, as if to contrast the rationality of his words with Lisbon's irate rantings. "Umm I'm sensing some animosity here towards my gender. I take it some outrageous brute has stirred these feelings of wounded pride?" He nonchalantly turned a page of his script, as if humouring a child.

"Hysterical! He said I was hysterical. Somehow the sanctimonious prick knew we'd got no hard evidence." Lisbon's voice was getting higher.

"It's just a term Lisbon." He paused briefly, wondering how far he could push her. "Of course, the ancients regarded hysteria as an affliction of the female form, attributing hysteria to the wandering womb." He hazarded a look to gauge her reaction before turning the screw. "Mind you the ancient Greeks weren't particularly enlightened, they claimed the first woman Pandora was created as a punishment for men. Can you believe it?"

"Sheepdip! You're making it up." She was incredulous that Jane would even venture into that territory.

"Au contraire, my dear Lisbon, it's completely true. Why, as recently as the last century, Doctors resorted to some quite ingenious methods to cure the malaise." He leaned forward and whispered in her ear.

She flushed. "Now I know you are making it up."

He raised his hands. "All true Lisbon. There used to be such a stigma to the term that when the symptoms were finally recognised in battle fatigue, it was initially dismissed as a disease of the Latin temperament by the more Teutonic types. They simply couldn't bring themselves to use the term hysteria, because it had connotations of unmanliness and they opted to call it neurosis instead."

"Well, I doubt Volker had that in mind, he was just being a creep." Lisbon huffed.

"So, I take it you're no closer to nailing your man?" Jane knew Lisbon was being frustrated at every turn.

"No, he's as slippery as an eel, no sooner do you find out something about him than the trail dries up. It's as if he's one step ahead of you." Lisbon half suspected her email account had been hacked, it was uncanny the way Volker second guessed her movements.

"Umm there's more than one way to skin a cat, let me have a look over what you've got later." Jane looked up at the tip tapping of kitten heels approaching, he smiled appreciatively at the vision of loveliness before him. "Aah Cassie, you're looking particularly lovely today." He lifted his face to meet her half way as she planted a kiss on his lips.

"So, Paddy are we still on for tonight? I've got something special planned." She winked suggestively.

"Oh, I don't know Cassie, I've got some things to work on." Jane affected to play hard to get.

"But I've been looking forward to this all week." Cassie pouted.

Jane sighed resignedly. "I suppose so. If you insist."

"You won't regret it." Cassie looked over her shoulder with a demure look on her face that belied her intentions.

With a smug smile Jane turned his attention back to his work, while the rest of office were transfixed by the gentle bounce of Cassie's retreating form.

Although Lisbon knew that technically they were just playing out their parts, the green-eyed monster still struck home. "You do know that you don't _have_ to take your work home with you?"

His eyes wrinkled in amusement. "It's her home technically Lisbon, besides you know I'm only following the script."

"Well make sure you stick to it. No ad-libbing." She hissed, hoping no one else could hear.

"But Lisbon you know how seriously I take my responsibilities. It's a hard job but someone's got to do it." He couldn't resist teasing her.

"Look, she's going around bragging about an out of body experience of earth shattering proportions, so you must be doing something. There's no smoke without fire." Lisbon's eyes narrowed as she tried to read him to no avail.

"Surely you know by now, a gentleman never tells." Jane responded evasively, before glancing at his watch. "Anyhow I thought you had a date with Eduardo at four."

"Shoot! I'd better go before she who must be obeyed comes back." Lisbon trudged out of the office disconsolately, wondering what new humiliation awaited her.

* * *

For all Jane teased Lisbon, he had an ulterior motive where Cassie was concerned; she provided a willing and vocal alibi. Purely in the interests of research, of course, Jane had scoured the annals of erotica to establish exactly what made women tick. The next step was to devise a fool proof method of creating artificial associative memories that would persist after programming, and could transport a susceptible subject to the throes of ecstasy, without Jane actually being present most of the time. In fact, from his point of view it was preferable that he was well away. He'd perfected a ten-stage programme that ticked all the boxes, stage three never failed to impress, but Jane was holding back on number seven for a special occasion.

The scene was set. The heavy drapes and strategically placed scatter cushions, augmented by the flickering light of the scented candles that filled the room with a heady aroma, created an ambience reminiscent of a Turkish brothel. Cassie floated round in an artfully cut gown, that revealed just enough to be alluring, but still left something to the imagination. The velvet tones of Barry White's subterranean moans set the mood music, and served as verbal foreplay. The first rumblings of desire soon turned into tremors once Barry's deep base tones hit the resonant frequency, and sent primeval waves of longing shuddering through Cassie as she immersed herself in the soundtrack of seduction.

Taking his prompt from the Walrus of Lurve, Jane nestled close behind Cassie and started whispering sweet nothings in her ear. His hands skimmed tantalisingly over her curves activating her nerve endings, sending shock waves through her as his hands made their way up to caress her neck and face. She started to melt into him as she succumbed to the intoxicating combination of voice and sensation. After all who could resist those hands? She could sense the flow of energy as those long sensual fingers worked their way up to massage her scalp and temples, the sensation of communion made her quiver with anticipation as she fell completely under his spell, and all conscious thought eluded her as she stood at the gateway to Nirvana

Jane permitted himself a small smile, it was all so easy with someone as susceptible as Cassie. It was as simple as setting the washing machine in motion, just select the right programme and walk away. It left Jane free to roam without anyone, except for Lisbon, asking any questions. Moreover, Cassie could be guaranteed to tell everyone about their mind-blowing exploits the following day.

He gently lifted Cassie onto the scatter cushions as the groans and moans were getting increasingly rapturous. The sound track had moved on to the orgasmic cooing of Donna Summer, and Cassie's oohs and aahs synched perfectly with the pulsing rhythms and spiralling crescendos. Elevated to a cloud of ecstasy, she floated away trapped in an endless loop of high pitched fervour.

Jane had no desire to hang around once he'd set the machine in motion. Satisfaction was guaranteed.

* * *

It left Jane free to pursue his investigations. He knew there must be other ways down to the loading bay that offered their best hope of escape, besides he couldn't keep going to the old chapel without raising suspicion. He'd heard a faint rumbling from the depths when he was in makeup and guessed the studios weren't that far from the basement. Under the cover of night, he adjusted his night vision and traversed the dark corridors to map out the layout of the facility. You could never have too much information and it all added to the bigger picture.

His brief forays into the bowels of the building hadn't been as productive as he'd hoped, but he did manage to glean that something was afoot from some overheard conversations. There appeared to be a significant re-structuring going on, and parts of the facility were being put into cold storage, as if there had been a suspension of activities. Jane had a bad feeling about it all, it was prescient of a sea change to their arrangements. He was painfully aware of the fragility of their existence, and how quickly it could all end. It was all the more important that they develop a contingency plan to give them some control over their own destiny.

* * *

After a demoralising makeover, where Eduardo mercilessly picked over her appearance, Lisbon turned up to work the next day resplendent in her finery. A fuchsia coloured dress suit was finished off with killer heels and a handbag the size of a small suitcase, the pièce de résistance was undoubtedly the sassy new hair style, held in place with enough hairspray to deplete the ozone layer. The heads turned as she walked through the office; the short dress revealed a hitherto unseen pair of shapely calves. Lisbon grunted in annoyance at the unsolicited attention, feeling like she was taking part is some freak show. Not used to wearing heels she hadn't perfected the graceful fluidity of walking on stilts and skidded precariously on the polished floor of the newsroom, resorting to grabbing Cho's shoulder at one stage before gently easing herself into the safety of her chair.

Van Pelt was giving her a strange look, Lisbon just glared back until Grace's cough and pointed look down alerted Lisbon that her normal boyish pose was hardly appropriate for a short dress and she clamped her knees together defensively. "Oh crap, I'm never going to get used to this."

"Umm not very ladylike Lisbon, though I must say you do brush up well." Jane personally preferred the more natural look, but when in Rome…

Cho brushed off his shoulder to check for marks, he was just about to take up his stint as the resident news anchor. His stony demeanour lent a certain gravitas to his monotone delivery, particularly on the more serious items. All attempts to expand his facial range had ended in failure, and eventually Brenda told him to ditch the smile as it was frightening the children. However, he slotted into the anchor role naturally, his wry segues were the thing of legend, so much so that his sarcastic bon mots had spawned their own twitter feed. The usual targets for his acerbic asides were the sports and weather presenters.

Rigsby's propensity to deluge the viewer with information and colourful graphics, charting potential weather events, all too often ended up with an inconclusive forecast of a 50% probability of precipitation, which would elicit a terse response from Cho. "So basically you haven't got a clue what is going on?"

Cho could often be seen yawning in the background, as Rigsby blustered away indignantly citing statistics about seasonal variations. When the camera cut back to Cho he just shrugged ironically. "State of the art computer, and we're still tossing a coin. Guess that's progress folks."

Van Pelt fared no better in her role as the resident sports presenter. Schettrick insisted on Van Pelt exploiting her considerable assets, which usually meant wearing skimpy outfits in primary colours to present her bulletins. The reasoning was that the jocks would stay tuned in, so long as any deficit in Van Pelt's sporting knowledge was compensated for by her appearance. The falling ratings had prompted Brenda to produce some Lycra hot pants, Van Pelt's protestations fell on deaf ears. It was so unfair, they'd never ask Rigsby to present the weather in board shorts, but as always she capitulated, knowing if she didn't do it others would. However, it made it all the more difficult to swallow Cho's sarcasm, when he loosened his tie and leaned forward to the camera. "Anyone else feeling overdressed today?" Taking pot shots at his colleagues was his favourite past time, no wonder they nicknamed him the queen of mean.

Although Lisbon knew they were just roleplaying, it unsettled her to see her friends prepared to score points off other to get on. It didn't help seeing the way Jane milked the adulation either, a groundswell of resentment, not to mention a smidgeon of jealousy, built up every time she saw Jane swamped by his adoring fans.

Yuk! It was nauseating. They just wouldn't leave him alone and worse still he appeared to be lapping it up. They would fawn all over him, stroking his hair given half a chance. Hell, she'd even seen some bunny boilers snip off lockets of his hair.

Jane would leap onto the stage with a cheery wave, flashing his megawatt smile before launching into some witty monologue that preceded the procession of so called celebrities plugging their latest offerings. The effortless charm with which he elicited amusing anecdotes from his guests was in no small part due to the researchers, who made sure he knew the minutiae of his guest's lives. If the interview was in danger of flagging, Jane could always drag up some obscure fact to get the ball rolling again. Lisbon would pretend to stick her fingers down her throat at the false bonhomie that the celebrities fell for every time. There was no denying he was the master manipulator.

Not that Lisbon was averse to exploiting his abilities when it suited her. The previous evening Connie Ling's girlfriend had left a message for Lisbon, saying that she'd found some hardcopies of Connie's notes when she emptied her gym locker. It was damning evidence and Lisbon had burned the midnight oil sifting through it. She pulled a bulky dossier out of her bag, impressed the bag could hold so much, and wordlessly slid it over to Jane. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow as he reached forward.

"It's dynamite but I'm not sure what to do with it." Lisbon had long suspected Brenda had ties with Volker and would supress anything too damning, and she was at a loss how to expose him.

Jane frowned as he read the papers, they didn't make comfortable reading. He tapped his lip thoughtfully as an idea germinated. A guest had pulled out at the last minute and Jane hazarded a guess that Volker would be more than willing to showcase his latest vanity project.

Lisbon would just have to trust him on this, he called one of his trusted researchers who wouldn't go blabbing to Brenda and left instructions as to what he needed. He made the call to Volker personally, buttering him up about hearing good things about his new project. Flattery worked every time, Volker took the bait hook line and sinker.

* * *

It was imperative that Lisbon kept well out of sight, so as not to raise Volker's suspicions, so she was forced to watch from the production suite.

Brenda started blathering when she saw Volker in the green room, "What's he doing here I haven't authorised this?"

"My show, my guests Brenda. I do it my way or not at all." Jane knew she wouldn't dare interfere.

Jane greeted Volker warmly on stage with a power handshake and each patted the other's shoulder in an attempt to gain the ascendancy. Knowing better than to get off on the wrong foot with his tricky guest, Jane backed down first.

Jane utilised every trick in the book to draw Volker out, the higher the pedestal Jane set him on the harder the fall when it came. Volker had a measure of charm necessary to succeed in business, and could turn it on for the cameras. When things were going his way, he could be as charming as the next man, but as so often with men who enjoyed power for the wrong reasons, he was prickly and defensive when things turned against him.

Jane showed the audience pictures of the community that the Volker Foundation had set up for the orphaned children of migrant workers. Jane leant over and put his hand on Volker's arm. "It's a great thing you're doing Tommy, you've really touched our hearts here today." The audience broke out into spontaneous applause. Volker looked quite touched and Jane patted him on the back encouragingly.

Lisbon saw the glint in Jane's eyes, she guessed he was about to change tack, and she sat forward in her seat in anticipation of what was about to be revealed.

Rather than use a blunt instrument to destroy Volker, Jane skilfully cast his web drawing Volker in slowly. The pictures of cute smiling orphans were followed by glimpses of their everyday lives, although judging by the angle of the razor wire the complex was designed to keep them in rather than protect them from intruders.

At first sight, the orphan's schoolroom looked impressive, the regimented lines of tables and chairs looked to be well equipped from a distance.

Jane trod carefully. "And now we can see the state of the art schoolrooms each desk fully equipped. Let's take a closer look."

Volker visibly tensed as the camera zoomed in on the tables, which far from being equipped for educational purposes had sewing machines. This was not a schoolroom it was a production line. Volker cast a nervous look at Schettrick suspecting an ambush. She was powerless to do anything.

"Oh, that must be the wrong picture. You can't get the staff these days. "Jane joked, lulling Volker into a false sense of security before a photograph appeared of rows of young children huddled over their machines churning out counterfeit sportswear. There was a collective sharp intake of breath as the mood of the audience changed.

Volker swallowed hard and licked his lips. Sensing trouble, Brenda decided it was every man for themself and beat a hasty retreat. On seeing Lisbon in the production suite, she spat out. "You think you're so clever, don't you? But you're finished in this industry, no one will ever employ you again."

A sardonic smile crossed Lisbon's face. "If it means you and that slimy bastard are history, it will be worth it. Watch and learn Brenda, this is how real journalists get things done."

Schettrick's face contorted in a look of spite. "You know you're a laughing stock round here, waiting for lover boy. He's had them all, the only one he won't touch is you. Have you ever wondered why?"

Lisbon's eyes smarted, it was as she had feared, but she wasn't going to let Brenda see her poisoned barb had hit home. "I think you're confusing me with someone who doesn't have a life of their own. I wait for no man." Lisbon looked Schettrick up and down. "I don't think orange will do anything for your complexion, but where you're going no one cares."

Lisbon made her way to the auditorium and positioned herself stage side waiting for Volker's final humiliation.

Jane put on his serious face as he stared into the camera. "But Tommy I can't see any books round here - what's going on?"

Volker was nothing if not resourceful. "It's our vocational programme teaching them life skills."

There was a sceptical murmur from the audience. Jane continued his quiet line of questioning. "From what I'm told their lessons last 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some might call that exploitation."

Volker couldn't hide his irritation. "Just what I've come to expect of this network, more fake news. You can't give anyone credit for trying to make a difference."

"Oh, I can tell you've made a difference, in fact your made a real difference to the life of one of the girls that 'graduated' from one of your schools." Jane turned to the audience. "Please give a round of applause for Ana Castillo."

A young girl in her late teens falteringly made her way on stage, she looked up to Lisbon for reassurance. Lisbon silently mouthed to her "Go on you can do it. You have nothing to worry about."

Jane stood up to greet Ana, taking care not to be too forward, knowing the ordeal she had been through. He led her to a seat on the opposite side to Volker.

Volker frowned as he squinted at her, trying to rack his brain where he had seen her. He rarely paid much attention to people of no consequence. Why waste time on people who could give nothing back in return? He looked at his watch, surely it was time for a commercial break, he could just get up and walk out at that point. Where the hell was Brenda anyhow? The bitch was supposed to be protecting his back.

Ignoring Volker for now Jane gave Ana his full attention. "I know this is difficult for you but tell me what happened to you?"

"I worked in the schoolroom until I was fourteen. They told me my parents were dead but it was a lie. We worked until our fingers were sore most days. Then as we got older some of the girls were taken to one side, and were auctioned to the highest bidder. I'm a good catholic girl and didn't know what they were going to do to me, and I fought back. Mr Volker decided it was time to teach me a lesson." Ana dipped her head in shame.

Without wishing to exploit her further, Jane picked up the story. "I believe he made quite an impression on you, in fact many if the photographs are anything to go by."

A photograph showing the red welts on Ana's back appeared on screen. "I know the physical scars have almost healed now, but I understand that you were drugged and subjected to things no young woman should have to endure."

Ana nodded tearfully.

"That's enough now Ana." Jane nodded to the wings where Ana's parents were waiting. They came out and gathered their daughter in their arms.

Jane could see Volker ripping off the microphone as he stood up to make his escape, it didn't matter what he did now. Jane looked in to the camera. "The worst thing is not only did Ana think her parents were dead, but Volker's people told her parents she had run away and was presumed dead. Ana was left without a friend in the world until she met Connie Ling, a brave young attorney who gave her life in the name of justice."

The audience jeered as Volker made his escape, he was ruined, found guilty in the court of public opinion. No matter how much his cronies conspired to protect him, the Volker brand was permanently tarnished.

Jane looked to the wings hoping to catch Lisbon's attention, but she was nowhere to be seen. She was grateful for what Jane had done, and if she had hung around she would have heard him credit her with the investigative work, but Lisbon's pride wouldn't let her be seen as his lackey, taken for granted while he played the field.

* * *

Needless to say, Jane was the talk of the town, for all his best efforts Lisbon barely got a mention. It was one of those unfortunate coincidences that it was the news correspondent's ball that night, and Jane had been nominated for the people's award. With the public phone vote assured, he was a shoe-in to waltz off with the prestigious prize.

Lisbon pointedly avoided Jane at the event, keeping well away from him while she gathered her thoughts. She struggled to see what anyone had learned from this particular scenario, where they had all turned on each other. It was a real dog eat dog environment, there was something primal about the lust for fame and attention. So much for team spirit, and as for Jane wasn't he a revelation, quite the player given half a chance.

To make matters worse she'd had to endure the final insult, the hushed whispers and giggles in the powder room were all about Jane's prowess and his magical hands. Lisbon frowned, it seemed as if Jane was pretty free with his favours, with everyone except her. It turned out Brenda was telling the truth after all. The voices hushed when they saw Lisbon, and the gaggle dispersed with pitying looks at Lisbon on the way out.

From her perch at the bar, Lisbon belligerently watched Jane milking the plaudits. She was feeling very sorry for herself, her feet were killing her, and she could hardly breath in that dress. A slap on the back made her jump. "Well if it isn't my old partner in crime Teresa Lisbon." She recognised the voice straight away, it was Rex Rawson the intrepid war correspondent. With his open necked shirt and rugged features, he stood out against the air brushed people swanning around. "Jeez Teresa what have they done to you – you look like Barbie."

Lisbon scowled truculently "I've been made over."

"I'll say you have!" Rex chuckled, but it didn't stop him raking over her new-found curves, appreciating the transformation on an aesthetic level, even if this vanilla version of Lisbon had none of the spark of the woman he knew. He called some of his mates over to the bar "Hey look who I've found. Lisbon's been barbified."

A crowd gathered round her and the drinks started to flow as they teased her about the old times. Hard drinking and hard living, the serious journalists had little time for their network colleagues. Lisbon felt she was caught between both worlds, and didn't really belong to either anymore. Leaning heavily on the bar, she slammed her glass down as they put back another round of Tequila.

Rex nestled up behind her "Hey Lisbon, what say we get out of here and have one for the road for old time's sake." He raised a suggestive eyebrow.

Why not? If Jane could sow his wild oats, why shouldn't she? She wavered for a moment and then she saw Jane staring at her from the other end of the bar. It was tempting, Rex made no secret of his intentions, his straightforward approach was refreshing. Before she could answer, she became aware of Jane hovering nearby. "Why Lisbon, I think they're playing our tune." He dragged her away from Rex's clutches and manoeuvred her to the dancefloor. Rex just shrugged, and turned his attentions to the blonde in the red dress. It was all the same to him.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Lisbon demanded angrily.

"I'm saving you from yourself." Jane said calmly, refusing to relinquish his hold of her, despite her best attempts to break free.

"What if I don't want to be saved?" Lisbon pouted petulantly.

Jane smiled indulgently. "Everyone wants to be saved Lisbon. Come on Cinders, your carriage awaits, let's get you home before your clothes turn to rags."

"But I like rags."

"So do I." Jane whispered into her ear. She shivered at the feel of his breath on the side of her face. Damn him, he wasn't going to wind her round his little finger. A well aimed kick, elicited a wince from Jane, but his grip held firm. Without further ado, he guided her out to his car, and drove her home. Lisbon grabbed the side of the car as she tried to get out, the fresh air and effects of Tequila combined to make her feel slightly woozy. Nevertheless, she brushed aside Jane's offer of a helping hand.

"Whazat?" She slurred at the sound of some rustling in the bushes.

"It's just the breeze Lisbon" Jane assured her.

"Hmm, I thought I saw something move in that bush. Can't be too careful, we may have been stalked by one of your rabid fans. S'pose you'd better come in." Lisbon flopped on the sofa and kicked off her shoes. Her makeover had gone to pot by now, with smudged mascara and mussed up hair she was looking delightfully dishevelled.

Without asking permission Jane made a bee-line for the kitchen, opened a few cupboard doors and re-emerged carrying a mug of black coffee and some aspirin. "Here try this, it'll make you feel better."

Jane walked round the sparse room, taking in every detail, as he sipped thoughtfully on his tea. He knew Lisbon had been hurt by his shenanigans, but if only he could make her understand.

"There was nothing in any of it." Jane said quietly.

Lisbon's face tensed. "You're a free agent, you can do what you want."

"But that's the whole point, we can't do what we want, someone else is always pulling the strings." Jane stood in front of Lisbon staring earnestly into her face.

"Well you certainly made the most of it. Seems like you're quite the Lothario." Lisbon hid behind her mug of coffee, trying desperately to disguise her true feelings.

A flicker of irritation crossed Jane's face. "It wasn't like that Lisbon, I assure you. It was just a diversion to hide the fact that I was doing some digging, trying to find out more about this world of ours. Something's going on and we need to be prepared."

"Look, you've made very it clear where I stand. You're not accountable to me, but please don't offend my intelligence with feeble excuses." She turned her face away, unable to bear his searching gaze.

Jane huffed. "Well you wouldn't believe me if I told you. You've already made your mind up."

"Try me." Lisbon said sarcastically.

"Very well, I'll let you into my secret. It's all a trick, call it hypnosis or programming, but the memories are all implanted, nothing actually happens other than in their minds." Jane could tell he wasn't convincing Lisbon.

"Oh, now you're just being downright insulting, expecting me to believe that. I've heard the watercooler stories of magic hands. I know practice makes perfect, but is there anyone you haven't used to perfect your technique?" Her eyes flashed with anger.

"It wasn't that many." He sighed heavily. "But it's a large complex I needed time to explore it, so yes there were a few subjects. Trust me Teresa."

She sat back with a disbelieving look on her face. "Alright Svengali strut your stuff, show me what you can do."

Jane shook his head "No, I won't do that, I've too much respect for you."

Lisbon laughed derisively. "I knew it. It's just another of your ruses."

Jane shook his head resignedly, and took her mug of coffee, placing it on the side table. Before she could say anything, he placed his hands on either side of Lisbon's head. "Very well, if that's what you want, but on your head be it. Just remember I did warn you. Once this starts there is no going back."

Lisbon felt a frisson of excitement mixed in with her scepticism of Jane's claims. Her eyes opened wide with astonishment as she felt a flow of energy followed by a warm glow passing through her. Jane pulled away as she started to squirm.

"What the hell have you done Jane?" Lisbon crossed her legs awkwardly, as an irresistible feeling started to overwhelm her.

"Sorry Teresa, but you insisted. Just relax and enjoy the ride." Jane recognised the tell-tale dilation of the pupils and departed with a wry smile on his face as the squeals of delight followed him down the corridor. From the distance, a voice yelled out "Holy crap!" It was heaven ahead with number seven.

Lisbon was barely capable of coherent thought the following morning, as she lay outstretched with a goofy smile plastered to her face. Slowly she started to recover her faculties. Son of a gun! So that really was how he did it! A feeling of embarrassment overcame her - how the hell was she going to face him again after this?

A sly look crossed her face as she wondered whether there was a replay button….

* * *

A/N The title comes from the Genesis song Counting out Time from the Lamb Lies Down On Broadway album – I'll leave you to you tube it, if you're inclined. It's very juvenile but always makes me smile.

Thanks once more to Fiasco Way for doing a read through and giving some useful insights and the Barry White suggestion.


	10. Chapter 10 : A Cut Too Far

**A/N** This has been half written for months, so I thought I ought to try and finish it. One more chapter to go after this. Hope there aren't too many typos. I'm a bit rusty at this.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - A Cut Too Far**

Like an actor tied to a show past its prime, Jane found each new scenario less plausible to play out. He shook his head at the absurdity of it all, playing doctors and nurses for the amusement of their nefarious overseer was stretching his patience to breaking point. Though Jane would deny it, his self-assurance and hint of arrogance made him a good fit for his new role, but it would take more than a white coat and stethoscope to make a doctor out of Patrick Jane.

Jane's nose wrinkled in distaste as he sipped the tepid brew that masqueraded as tea. Casting his eyes around his surroundings, he took in the milieu of endless activity with the worker ants seemingly busy but with little to show for their efforts. It was all a charade and he was the star turn, dancing to the tune of some remote puppet master.

It was second nature for him to start reading the bit part players carrying out their appointed roles, they were blissfully unaware of the futility of it all. The assertive young woman berating her colleague was desperately hoping no one would see through the mask of self-confidence, which hid a myriad of insecurities. The uniformed man with folded arms was text book proof of procedure making tyrants of those incapable of working outside the box. A mischievous part of Jane wanted to tackle the uniformed man, after all his mission in life was to debunk protocol and be the scourge of the petty bureaucrat.

Fortunately for the uniformed man Jane's attention moved on, when he spotted his favourite bureaucrat busy conferring with Abbott. She was looking rather harassed and brushed some wayward strands of hair behind her ears. Jane was thankful for small mercies, at least they hadn't given Lisbon a Stepford makeover. Her imperfections hadn't been airbrushed away, she still had some spark about her.

A brief nod from Abbott was enough to set her on her way again, a quick glance in Jane's direction made it was clear Abbott that wanted a word in private.

After a final sip of the noxious brew, Jane made his way to the privacy of the men's room. Within a few minutes Jane heard the door opening, and Abbott's whistling confirmed they were alone.

"We must stop meeting like this Dennis, people will talk."

Abbott gave a wry smile before cutting to the chase. "It's started Patrick. A mystery virus has been striking people down. The hospital quarantine bays are filling up."

Jane frowned, they had suspected that something was underway with the gradual disappearance of familiar faces and the increased activity in the loading bays.

"When you say virus, you mean?" Jane's thoughts were racing ahead.

Abbott shrugged. "Could be either. It may be coincidence, but Wylie says some unscheduled updates have kicked in over the last week. No one knows what is going on."

Jane pondered his options. "There's no such thing as coincidence. Presumably the symptoms have been treated with standard protocols for now, but we'll need further diagnostics to prove a hunch of mine."

Jane was surrounded by the usual team when he began his rounds, they all brought their own speciality to the team, though Jane would rarely acknowledge their contribution. To an outsider their interactions would appear quite random and fractious, with Jane bouncing ideas off the team and using their responses to fuel his deductive reasoning process.

"How many are there now?" Jane looked round the isolation ward.

"Twelve, we lost another two this morning. The damage is irreversible by time we see them." Van Pelt had tried every recognised protocol to no avail.

"What about the others?" Jane hadn't seen these patients before and was unaware of their case histories. He recognised a couple of them as low-level operatives.

Before Rigsby could jump in, Jane turned to Cho. "Cho, thoughts?"

"Limited brain activity, weak neural responses." Cho was typically succinct.

"Did you arrange those extra tests?" Jane's response was a curt nod.

Jane finally turned to Rigsby and raised an enquiring eyebrow. Never one to miss his cue Rigsby didn't pause for breath. "It has all the signs of an autoimmune condition, something has triggered the immune system to systematically self-destruct." He hesitated before making his final suggestion. "It has all the hallmarks of Lupus."

Jane rolled his eyes. "Except Lupus isn't contagious and we have an epidemic on our hands. Did you learn nothing from House? It's never Lupus."

"But all the symptoms point to it." Rigsby doggedly persisted.

Van Pelt gave Rigsby a sympathetic smile. "He's right Jane. Presumably some virus is mimicking the symptoms of Lupus causing them to shut down."

Jane looked unconvinced. He heard the sound of the door opening and heard the clip clop of familiar footfall. "Coat Lisbon please. How many times do I have to tell you?"

His eyes crinkled at the huffing behind him as Lisbon went through the coats trying to find one that fitted. As usual she emerged wearing one two sizes too big that swamped her petite frame. It was sound tactics on Jane's part to put her at a disadvantage before she could launch into an angry tirade.

Lisbon held up some papers. "Who ordered these tests – have you any idea how much they cost?"

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" Jane blithely responded.

"I can guess who, but you're grasping at straws with these tests." Lisbon spat back in exasperation.

"Deduction is a risky business Lisbon; you have to consider all options. It's like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving." Jane returned her look steadily.

"So now we're riding bikes?" Lisbon sighed in resignation. "But seriously what are you looking for?"

"There is a common thread between all these patients." Jane stepped forward and went to lift the gown off the first patient.

A nurse in a form fitting uniform rushed forward just in time to stop him. "Dr Jane, please don't touch. You know there are strict quarantine regulations in place."

"Why Erica, if I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to hide something."

"Dr Jane I'll have to ask you to leave if you won't follow the protocols." Erica deadpanned.

"Hiding behind the rule book won't stop us. Pedantry is the last refuge of scoundrels." Jane's lips twitched, the air sizzled with intent.

Erica sidestepped Lisbon to stand right in front of Jane. A hint of a smile played on her lips, she locked her sultry dark eyes with Jane's. "Patrick no one is above the rules you should know that by now."

It cut no ice with Jane. "I know what you're doing."

"What am I doing?" Erica cocked her head slightly to one side with an amused look on her face.

"Trying to conceal the true purpose of this. We all know that this is not what it seems." Though not entirely oblivious to her charms, Jane could still see through her.

Keen to break up their sparring, Lisbon pushed between them. "Yes, what are you trying to hide?"

"This Lisbon." Without warning Jane flung the covers off the first patient and turned around with a flourish. "Eh viola! Exhibit one – scarring on the leg."

"I told you not to touch." Erica snatched the covers back over.

"Oh, I doubt this is catching Erica. Not yet anyhow." Jane moved the hair away from the redheaded victim's face. "Exhibit two – severe cataracts in both eyes."

He proceeded to go down the line revealing the flaws on each victim. Erica looked on with folded arms. "These could have been corrected at any time, but these blue-collar models were damaged goods and weren't worth the investment."

"I haven't got time to listen to this nonsense, there are sick people to attend to." Erica valiantly tried to keep the pretence going.

"But you know that despite all our efforts they are never going to get better." Jane looked down the line of immobilised bodies.

Lisbon sharply nudged Jane in the ribs "Shush they might hear you."

Jane took the traces off Lisbon and passed them to Cho. "So, what do you see?"

"Interesting. The white noise obscured what was going on in the background, but these enhanced traces show a clear pattern. Is this what I think it is?" Cho's normally impassive features looked troubled.

Jane nodded. "They're just empty vessels stripped of all sensation and perception. They're just running on standby."

Lisbon touched her crucifix. "But they're still living beings, you can't just destroy the essence of them. Their souls are immortal."

Jane and Cho exchanged a quick look. There was no point disillusioning Lisbon, who clung on to her beliefs in the face of all the evidence to the contrary.

Van Pelt put a hand to her chest "But what about us? We're all damaged in some way, apart from Jane."

Instinctively Lisbon and Rigsby touched their own wound sites, realising that they could be next.

It hurt Jane to think he had escaped unscathed when those around him had suffered. It would have been easy to cut and run, to take himself out of the equation and stop them being used as pawns in this sick game. But if he took the long walk into the great unknown, where did that leave them? Perversely their existence hinged on his seeing through this charade, their fate was inextricably linked with his. They would stand or fall together.

Erica's voice roused him from his reverie - there was a harsher tone to it now. "You never learn do you Patrick? You can't expect to flaunt the rules without consequences." She flashed a sardonic smile in Jane's direction before she left the room.

Van Pelt was clearly disturbed by events, as she had flashbacks of the earlier scenarios and her part in them.

"Don't worry Grace, we'll find a way through." Rigsby reassured her.

"But what if he sets one off against another? You know what he's capable of." The veil had fallen from their eyes and they were acutely aware of their predicament. "How do we know who to trust?"

Jane gently pulled her round to face him, forcing her to look into his eyes. She knew that she was an open book to him. "Grace, trust me I'll know if anyone is compromised. We must stick together, no matter what they throw at us."

Once they had returned to the main concourse, Cho and Rigsby split off to find Abbott. Lisbon wanted to keep Grace close to them for now. Lisbon saw Jane stiffen when Erica re-appeared with Dr Joe. Lisbon tried to grab his arm as he went to follow, but there was no stopping Jane. She was caught in a quandary not wanting to leave Grace alone, but knowing she had to be with Jane. With a sigh of relief, she saw Rigsby in the distance and sent Grace over to him before running to catch up with Jane.

For all Jane knew this was probably a trap, he was glad to have Lisbon with him and uncharacteristically took her hand. Lisbon knew better than to ask questions, Jane was completely focussed on Dr Joe and Erica.

Erica stopped outside the entrance to an operating room. "Don't say I didn't warn you. This is all your doing Patrick."

The door locked behind them, and Lisbon's pass wouldn't open the doors. Jane peered through the glass panel in the door and could see two corpses laid out on tables in the centre of the room. Erica helped Dr Joe pull on his surgical gowns, it was all very theatrical, and the performance was clearly for Jane's benefit.

Knowing there should be an observation suite, Jane looked around for a stairwell and quickly ushered Lisbon up the stairs. Lisbon frowned anxiously, fearful this was just another way of tormenting Jane. One of them had to keep a clear head, so she quickly sent Cho a text requesting backup.

Jane's face was set in a stone as he looked down on the scene below. The disparity in the sizes of the corpses had not gone unnoticed. Lisbon grabbed his arm tightly when the first body was revealed. The whitened lips were slightly parted and bulging eyes stared out of a pallid face. Strategically placed cuts had exsanguinated the body. The scuff marks from the gurney straps were a sure sign that Angela had been conscious throughout the ordeal.

"Holy mother of God…" Lisbon could hardly bear to look at Jane when the second sheet was pulled back. His clenched lips turned white, and his heart pumped furiously as he steeled himself.

It was little consolation, but Lisbon took some comfort from the fact that Charlotte was unsullied. Jane knew better than to assume this was over and was powerless to do anything. He banged the window more in desperation than hope. "Take me instead, that's what you really want."

Dr Joe reached for a scalpel oblivious to Jane's pleas, knowing the best way to hurt someone was to target those close to them.

"Jane, she's gone she won't feel a thing." Lisbon's words rang hollow, when a trickle of blood ran down Charlotte's neck from the first cut.

"That shouldn't happen, if she's …" Lisbon stuttered.

"She's still alive Lisbon, they must have drugged her." Jane felt sick to the pit of his stomach.

There was a crackle as the speakers sprang into life. "The game's over Patrick, and I won."

"It's not a game." Jane frantically looked for a way down, but the door was locked. He heard a groan as Charlotte started to stir. Unable to shield her eyes from the bright lights, she peered out through narrow slits to see the two shadowy figures on either side of her. She started to panic when she realised she was tethered down and felt the sharp sting of the cut.

Dr Joe stroked her hair as if to calm her down. "I'm so sorry sweetheart, but your Daddy needs to be taught a lesson."

Charlotte's screams at the next incision sent a chill down Lisbon's spine. Jane pummelled his fists against the window. It sent a cold arrow through his heart when Charlotte looked up reproachfully at him.

Lisbon tried the locked door again in desperation. She couldn't bear to stand by and just watch. Where the hell was everyone?

"What have I done Lisbon?" Jane's disregard for consequences had rebounded on those he cared for yet again.

Lisbon couldn't wait for help, she had to create a diversion. Grabbing the only available weapon, she hurled a chair against the window. It took a couple of attempts before the glass eventually shattered and showered the room below. It was enough to halt proceedings. The sound of voices in the corridor signalled this debacle was at an end. They'd never know how far Dr Joe had intended to go, but he seemed to be out of control driven by his visceral dislike of Jane.

"Next time Patrick. We'll finish this once and for all. Perhaps Teresa won't be so lucky." Dr Joe and Erica escaped through a rear door just before Cho and Rigsby broke though the locked doors.

Jane rushed down to Charlotte as soon as Abbott unlocked the door. Abbott frowned as he observed the scene below. "It should never have gone this far, Dr Joe's out of control."

"Where's it all going to end?" Lisbon knew Jane couldn't take much more of this.

"That's what we need to talk about, things have taken on an unexpected direction." Abbott grimly slid a paper across to Lisbon.

* * *

Lisbon had parked up at the far end of the car park, well away from the old chapel that had become their regular rendezvous. Jane had been reluctant to leave Charlotte at first, but Lisbon had insisted this was important. Jane was peevish as they drove out to the meeting place, venting his spleen on Lisbon. For all she sympathised with Jane he needed to snap out of this, there were higher stakes at play.

"Read this before Abbott gets here." She'd already read it and was still taking in the implications.

Jane quickly scanned the document. "How did Abbott get this?"

"Wylie hacked the server - they've been monitoring the emails for some weeks. According to Abbott this is just the tip of the iceberg." Lisbon had a fatalistic air to her.

"I can't say I'm wholly surprised, there's been the feel of a general wind down" Jane suspected the final scenario had just been a ruse to decommission unwanted stock. Although they'd had contingency plans in hand for a while, this was a real sucker punch. The facility was being mothballed and production was being transferred to a lower cost centre. It gave them little time to act before the facility was mothballed. All saleable stock was to be processed, the rest was to be decommissioned.

He ran his tongue across his dry lips. They'd known they only had a finite shelf life. Even without this it was only a matter of time before someone new came along and started calling the shots, and both he and Dr Joe would slip down the pecking order. But this was so final, the team would be broken up, reprogrammed and sent off only to be discarded when something better came along.

He shuddered to think what they would be used for. His thoughts drifted to Lisbon, the thought of being parted from her affected him more than he imagined. So many things unspoken, deeds undone that would never happen now.

The sound of Abbott's sedan pulling up on the dirt carpark made Jane look up. After checking he hadn't been followed, Abbott let himself into the back of Lisbon's car.

Jane dispensed with any preamble. "Does Dr Joe know?"

Abbott shook his head. "Don't think so. He's just a figurehead, he's in the same position as the rest of us. It's now or never Patrick."

The next few hours were spent revising the plan. Breaking out of the facility was one thing but making their way in the outside world was another. They'd lived in a bubble and had an imperfect window on the outside world. They'd have to find a means of supporting themselves without drawing attention to themselves. For sure they could drift along picking up jobs to keep them going, but there was no time to devise a long-term strategy.

As the facility started to wind down the shackles were loosened giving those left more opportunity to establish the workings of the facility. The long walk out of the shipping bay along the freight route one night had led to a gated entrance. There were no lights on the horizon suggesting they were out in the wilds somewhere. As dawn broke an arid landscape unfolded before Jane, faint dust trails picking out a distant highway. There was no chance of escaping by foot they'd have to have transport.

For all their trepidation about leaving the compound, Jane's enthusiasm was infectious as he marshalled them in their appointed roles. Whatever doubts Jane harboured he kept them to himself. Abbott who knew him as well as anyone tried to shoulder some of the responsibility. They both knew the future was uncertain whether they stayed or left, but the option of exercising their free will was preferable to a life of slavery and degradation.

They had a rough idea of their whereabouts and Wylie had hacked into the system to raise a manifest for a consignment to a tech company in Palo Alto, and so the play was set in motion.

Cho and Rigsby railed against having their hair cut off, but if they were going to load the goods on to the wagons they had to fit in with everyone else. Jane would revisit his role as the area manager doing spot checks on the carriers and would ride shotgun with the trucker all the way back to civilisation. Once the doors were sealed the 'merchandise' could escape from their prison and await the first truck stop. Jane would insist on doing the final checks making sure everyone was on board and offering whispers off comfort as he checked everyone off against the manifest.

It was all going to plan until Jane saw Dr Joe approaching. "Really Patrick did you think you could just disappear without anyone noticing? You know this isn't in the plan."

"Depends which plan you're working to." Jane eyed him warily as he weighed up his options.

"There's only one plan mine, and it's time you learned to follow it. Surely you have realised by now I can make you or break you." The menace behind the Dr Joe's words was unmistakable.

Never willing to let someone else have the upper hand, Jane retaliated. "It's time you dropped these pathetic delusions of grandeur, you're no different from the rest of us. You're just another cog in the machine, to be thrown on the scrap heap when you're superfluous to requirements."

Dr Joe was having none of it. "Delusions! I've controlled this place; my word is life and death. Now if that's not grandeur, I don't know what you call it."

Jane was emboldened by the sight of Abbott sneaking up behind Dr Joe, for a big man he was surprisingly light on his feet. "I'd call it the ravings of a squalid egomaniac. You're no more in control than I am. They're closing this place down, and they never even told you. If you're lucky this time next year you could be the novelty act in some freak show at Vegas, or worse a plaything for a frustrated Hollywood wife. On top one minute, under the thumb the next." Jane deliberately riled Dr Joe, knowing he wouldn't like being at a woman's bidding.

Abbott grimaced at Jane's recklessness, when so much was at stake. Dr Joe's eyes flashed with anger and his hand shot to his pocket, it was time for Abbott to intervene. Dr Joe crumpled in a heap before he could do any damage.

Abbott shook his head disgruntledly. "Jeez Patrick, you just can't help yourself. It's not just your safety at stake this time."

Jane shrugged unapologetically. "Meh! I knew you had it under control. I have every confidence in you Dennis."

"What should we do with him?" Abbott realised this could make or break their mission.

As much as Jane loathed his adversary, Jane figured it was safer to have him close by rather than leave him behind to raise the alarm. Neither Jane nor Abbott had the appetite to finish him off. Dr Joe was as much a product of his programming as they were.

"We'll have to find somewhere safe to dump him to give ourselves a head start. He'll be as vulnerable as the rest of us in the outside world and won't be an immediate threat."

With the truck sealed and everyone on board, Jane joined the trucker Earl for the drive to freedom. The sun beat down on the unforgiving landscape as they traversed the arid plain between the mountains. Some shrivelled shrubs survived in the near desert, but apart from the odd truck stop there was little sign of habitation.

Jane drew the trucker Earl into conversation soon finding out all about him. It was preferable to listening to the country music that Earl insisted on singing along to. In the air-conditioned cab Jane was relatively cool, but he knew the others would be sweltering in the back of the truck, they needed to unload as soon as soon as possible. Jane had a good look round the cab during a refuelling stop, Earl had papers all over the place. The small pod that doubled as a bedroom was scattered with Earl's belongings, Jane pocketed some loose cash, credit cards and Earl's drivers' licence. If all went to plan, he would pay him back in due course.

As dusk began to fall city lights appeared in the distance, the road signs announced they were nearing Coachella. The palm lined highway led to a truck stop on the city limits, where Earl planned to spend the night. Jane bid him farewell, assuring him that he'd put a good word in with head office, and watched Earl make his way to the diner.

Without wasting any time Jane went to the back of the truck and released his precious cargo. He mentally ticked off the escapees Cho, Rigsby, Abbott and his wife Lena, a preternaturally pale kid identified as Wylie, Fischer who Abbot insisted was an asset. Grace was shielding Charlotte who seemed overwhelmed by it all - Jane had hypnotised her beforehand to prevent further trauma. Dazed and disorientated they stood in the carpark taking in their surroundings.

Jane sidled up to Lisbon who was looking hot and bothered. "See I told you it would be alright."

"You haven't had to spend the day cooped up in that god damned hell hole." She snarked back, irritated that Jane was looking remarkably unruffled compared to the rest of them.

"Lisbon believe me it's not been a bed of roses for a man of my sensibilities to have his ears assaulted by non-stop Dolly Parton." Despite his best efforts it was hard to keep a straight face.

It did nothing to placate a decidedly grump Lisbon. "So, what's next Einstein?"

"Patience Lisbon, I'm working on it." Jane said soothingly.

"OK, so you haven't got a plan." Lisbon rolled her eyes.

Jane affected a hurt look. "When have I ever let you down?" Seeing Lisbon ready to answer, he changed tack. "We'll have clearer heads when we've eaten."

He pulled some of Earl's cash from his pocket with a flourish. "The drinks are on me!"

There was one last thing to do before Jane joined them at the taco van, he jumped onto the back of the wagon where Dr Joe was gagged and bound. He'd come around now and was struggling against his restraints. Jane couldn't resist a final word before they left him. "This time the game is really over, and I think you'll find you lost."

Dr Joe stared defiantly back, something inside Jane cracked when he saw that arrogance undimmed. Seeing Charlotte again had awoken his anger.

"Did you really think you were going to get away scot free after all you've done? The misery and pain you've inflicted on others?" A visceral feeling swelled up inside Jane, wondering if some things could ever be fixed. Perhaps the best thing would be to end it here and now, he could squeeze the very life out of his adversary without anyone else being any the wiser.

Jane leaned forward and whispered in Dr Joe's ear. "Not so brave, now are you? How does it feel to be on the receiving end for once?" Jane picked up a packaging knife used to open the straps on the boxes. He lay the blade against Dr Joe's neck pressing hard enough to just about draw blood.

Jane wasn't proud of himself, but he had a perverse satisfaction in seeing the fear in the other man's eyes as a slow trickle of blood ran down his neck. "So, what does it feel like to feel your life force draining away from you – there's no second chances here. The end is the end."

Seeing the man squirm just raised Jane's ire further, the man who'd been so cruel with others was a pathetic coward. Something hardened in Jane. One swift swipe and it would be all over.

"Patrick! Leave it." Abbott's voice boomed out behind him.

Jane took a deep breath and the anger subsided, Abbott had broken the spell that had taken hold of Jane. Without another word Jane calmly closed the doors on the truck. Dr Joe was going far away from them.

"You always have to have the last word. I just hope your paths never cross again because his face was pure hate." Abbott turned to join the others.

"You're worrying about nothing Dennis. He'll be 500 miles away from us by time he gets released, he'll have no idea where we're heading." Jane blithely responded.

Abbott frowned, knowing better than to underestimate their adversary.

* * *

To all intents and purposes, the cab had been Earl's home since his wife died. He rarely spent much time at the apartment they'd shared, too many memories there and besides life on the road wasn't so bad. The living space was cramped, and he always kept a bag of his things in the back of the truck. The glare of the morning sun came through his flimsy curtains. Time to hit the road again. A quick shower and some breakfast and he'd be on his way.

"What the….?" Earl muttered as he viewed the empty boxes. He'd never lost a shipment before and knew there'd be hell to play for this. As his eyes adjusted to the light he saw the man propped against the back of the truck.

"Alright fella." Earl said reassuringly and jumped onto the back of the truck to free the captive man.

The truck had been parked up for a couple of days before it was reported to the police. Earl was found in a pool of blood – his throat had been cut.


End file.
